Who Inspired The Cocochine's Larry Jayasekara?

Ask The Cocochine’s Larry Jayasekara to name his favourite chefs and the answer reveals less about whose food he likes than who shaped the chef he became.

For Scene Eats’ Your Favourite Chef’s Favourite Chefs, the chef-patron and co-founder of The Cocochine in Mayfair, London, begins with Michel Bras, under whom he once worked. There, Jayasekara learned how much space vegetables could command on a plate, but also how a kitchen should operate: “Silent, precise, clean and organised.”

Then there is Pierre Koffmann, the legendary French chef behind the three-Michelin-starred La Tante Claire and a formative figure in British gastronomy. For Jayasekara, the relationship runs deeper than professional admiration. After fifteen years of knowing him, “he’s like a grandfather to me,” Jayasekara said. “He made a huge impact in my life, personally and in my career.”

Thomas Keller completes the trio, admired as much for developing young cooks as for his restaurants. It is the thread Jayasekara finds between all three: great chefs should create opportunities for the people coming after them.

“How these guys evolve young people and also give that opportunity,” he said. “Not just keeping it to yourself.”

Bras taught him how to run a kitchen, Koffmann became family, and Keller reinforced the importance of passing knowledge on. For Jayasekara, influence is ultimately something meant to travel.