October 20, 2021
DUNDAS MAN, EDUARDO WANSBROUGH
With restaurants now finally back open, a brand new restaurant and a newborn baby respectively, Euardo Wansbrough, co-owner and founder of La Nonna & Edu London, is a busy man. We were lucky enough to catch him at the new La Nonna in Brixton Market, and hear all about his business ventures, how he got into the industry and where he sees his restaurants going in future.
Dundas London: Hi Eduardo, it’s a pleasure to meet you. As we speak we are sitting in your brand new Brixton restaurant, which only opened last week, so thank you for making time for us!
So, you’re one of the founders of two successful London restaurants, Edu & La Nonna. For those that don’t know, what type of restaurants are they?
Eduardo Wansbrough: So we’ve got Edu which is a Spanish street food concept, where we use Spanish ingredients but fused with other cuisines which makes it a bit more interesting. Then we’ve got La Nonna which is an Italian fresh pasta concept where we make all the pasta in-house and all the sauces. The recipes have come down from my business partner Dani’s grandmother, who taught him the art of making pasta and all the sauces that go with it.
DL: Let’s go back to the beginning, you’re from Spain, having grown up between Madrid and Sotogrande - can you tell us a bit about your background?
EW: First of all my Dad is half English, so I have a bit of English in me, but yes, I was born in Sotogrande and lived there until the age of 12, when I went to boarding school in England.I went to school and university here, so pretty anglised by the end of it! Then I tried to go back to Spain after University, but in 2008 the economic crisis happened, so I came back to London and got a job at Barclays doing wealth and investment management. After doing that for four and a half years I realised that the banking world wasn’t for me.
Eduardo wears the Linen Navy
DL: Banking to hospitality is a big change! What made you decide to go into the restaurant business?
EW: I’ve always had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit, so I just wasn’t happy and I decided to leave banking. I’d always had an idea to do something with food, the Spanish concept first of all, in London and so I started Edu at the end of 2015. Obviously, I had no background in cooking or restaurant experience and I had to find the missing piece of the puzzle which was Dani! Dani had spent many years in Sotogrande working as a chef, where I first met him. He then moved to London and was working as a junior su chef at Chiltern Firehouse, so I got in touch with him and told him about Edu, which excited him. I think he was a bit fed up with the high pressure kitchens, working 60 hours a week, so we started Edu. Flat Iron Square was the first site and then we grew - we opened in West Brompton and then we opened in Box Park Shoreditch as well. Then in 2018 we opened La Nonna in Flat Iron Square as a small street food outfit.
Eduardo wears the Cotton Grey
DL: So in 2018 and 2019 business was good then obviously the pandemic hit in 2020, but your La Nonna fresh pasta DIY kits were a huge hit. Do you think you might be bringing these back permanently going forward?
EW: Yes, I think so. We will have a deli fridge stocked with fresh pasta, sauces, cheeses - everything! We will offer products that you can’t get in supermarkets like guanciale, which is the meat from the pig’s jaw and is traditionally used in carbonaras, which is just another level from pancetta in terms of taste. I think in the current scenario, there are still quite a lot of people that are a bit wary of putting themselves into risk situations in restaurants, so this gives them the option to enjoy our food in the comfort of their own home. The modern restaurant after the pandemic needs to be able to offer something that you can take home and pasta is the greatest type of food where you can do that.
DL: How much of a role do you think social media has played in your restaurant's successes?
EW: I think a lot, and we’re seeing it now with the bookings. We’ve got nearly 14,000 followers on instagram and this opening week [at La Nonna Brixton], I have asked people how they heard about us and 90% have said Instagram. It’s really helped that initial booking wave and so I think it’s hugely important in this modern world and especially for our generation.
DL: Ok, quick fire - favourite thing on the Edu menu?
EW: I think it’s got to be the beef quesadilla that we sell in Box Park.
DL: And on the La Nonna menu?
EW: The truffle wild mushroom dish is my favourite - it’s incredible.
DL: Best restaurant you’ve eaten at that wasn’t your own?
EW: I really like Gold in Notting Hill at the moment. The few times I’ve been there I’ve just been like ‘wow’. The food is great and the atmosphere is amazing.
DL: What is next for you, Daniele and the businesses?
EW: Good question! I think in terms of Edu we’re going to keep the street food vibe. We’ve got two concepts of Edu, we’ve got the Spanish burger concept at Flat Iron Square and then we’ve got the Spanish-Mexican concept in Shoreditch and that’s flying, so if we were to open another, we’d probably do a Mexican. Mexican food is definitely on the top of the wave, people are loving tacos and quesadillas.
With La Nonna, if this goes well then the idea is to open more restaurants - there is an opportunity in the market to do something with fast, neighbourhood, affordable fresh pasta with a deli option as well. Somewhere casual where you could just feel at home, like Grandmother’s kitchen. I’d like to open a La Nonna in and around Notting Hill/Portobello/Ladbroke Grove. I think we just want to create a modern, post pandemic restaurant. You’ve got your deli, it’s affordable, chilled out, high-turnover - the instagram generations want instagrammable, funky, authentic type places.
With La Nonna, if this goes well then the idea is to open more restaurants - there is an opportunity in the market to do something with fast, neighbourhood, affordable fresh pasta with a deli option as well. Somewhere casual where you could just feel at home, like Grandmother’s kitchen. I’d like to open a La Nonna in and around Notting Hill/Portobello/Ladbroke Grove. I think we just want to create a modern, post pandemic restaurant. You’ve got your deli, it’s affordable, chilled out, high-turnover - the instagram generations want instagrammable, funky, authentic type places.
Eduardo wears the Cotton Grey & the Linen Navy
DL: And finally, can you cook?
EW: I’m not going to start bigging myself up… but no I’m not a cook! I mean I can do some things but I leave that part to Dani!
DL: Thanks again and all the best for the future!
Edu London - @eduldn
La Nonna - @lanonnaldn