Sibling story
ZOË PASKIN & LAYO PASKIN • Studio Paskin (The Palomar, The Barbary, The Mulwray, Evelyn’s Table + more)
WORK • Wednesday Routine
ZOË PASKIN & LAYO PASKIN • managing director & creative director • Studio Paskin (The Palomar, The Barbary, The Mulwray, Evelyn’s Table + more)
Neighbourhoods you work in: Camden (studio), Covent Garden, Soho, Notting Hill (restaurants)
Neighbourhood you live in: Tufnell Park
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Zoë: I like to kick off with a proper team catch-up – a chance to come together and check in on the fundamentals of our business as well as any projects that are on the horizon. We’re close to 140 people now.
Layo: We took on our father’s former architecture studios in Camden, which we’ve been coming to since childhood. It’s a beautiful modern building with a calm, creative, open-plan feel, which connects me to my father and to his father. It was designed by Georgie Woolton, whose partners at the time were Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. Our grandfather was a cabinet maker in Hoxton, and our family is very much focused on craft, design and build. I hope we carry that legacy in our own way.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Layo: We’re opening The Palomar, Jacob the Angel and The Mulwray in Sydney in a Heritage Building (listed equivalent). With the usual delays, this has now fallen on the same weekend as our other project, celebrating 10-plus years of The Palomar and 30 years of The End nightclub. We’re finalising preparations for a party tomorrow, 9 October, at The Blue Posts, followed by a three-night event at KOKO this weekend. It’s a privilege to be in the position to bring together the work that began the story of Studio Paskin 30 years ago and what we do now, so we wanted to mark the occasion. The End was such a part of the history of London’s music scene – there are many great restaurants, but special clubs are rarer.
Zoë: Back in London, I’m sharing some feedback with our head chefs and general managers about my latest meal at one of our restaurants – the highlights as well as areas we can fine-tune. There are always things we can do better, and it’s exciting to collaborate with the teams to keep finding ways to improve each experience.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Zoë: I’m heading to Evelyn’s Table on Thursday to celebrate a dear friend’s 40th birthday – it’s been a while since I’ve been, so it’s bound to feel extra special. I’m also hoping to get seats for Carbone at the new Chancery Rosewood hotel this weekend – I can’t resist.
Layo: I’ll be in Sydney up until the party, but I plan to hit a few great spots while I’m here. When I get back, I’d like to see Nieves [Barragán Mohacho] and to visit Legado, plus maybe a drink at One Club Row, and I’ll see if I can make it to Joe Beef as they take over Maison François for two nights.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Layo: I just saw St Vincent at the Proms. She was amazing – her voice as well as how she ran the whole show alongside the Jules Buckley Orchestra. So much talent! Then, looking to Radiohead later in the year, my favourite band after The Beatles and for me, very much in the same creative vein. On the weekend, it’s time with the kids – football training for my son on Saturdays, and Sylvia Young acting for my stepdaughter.
Zoë: One of my favourite places is Parliament Hill so I try and get there for a run or a swim as often as possible. I’ve lived close by all my life. I find it very anchoring and it’s something I can share with my young children, my 80-year-old dad and friends alike. There are even early childhood photos of me on the same swings I now take my little girl to, which she adores. Later this month, I’m looking forward to Erykah Badu at The Royal Albert Hall with a celebration of the 25th anniversary of her revolutionary second studio album, Mama’s Gun.
Any weekend getaways?
Zoë: I snuck away from work and family life with my childhood best friend to Soho Farmhouse last month – think ice baths, steam, saunas, bike rides and a few too many picantes. It’s a hop, skip and a jump from her base in West London and a lovely mix of a reset and belly-ache laughter.
What was your last great holiday?
Layo: In the summer, I went to Koufonisi in Greece, staying at a lovely place called Aeolos with my son just before he started big school, and that was beautiful. Simple, nothing happening apart from the sea, grilled fish for me, calamari for him, sky full of stars, far away from the everyday of London.
Zoë: We visited the Basque Country earlier this year and were blown away by the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, a beautiful natural region filled with forests, untouched beaches, breathtaking cliffs and fishing villages. We especially loved Atxarre Taberna Kafetegia – a really special spot serving seafood and pintxos perched on the beachside where the river delta meets the sea.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
Layo: I just redid our kitchen and bought a Gaggenau oven with rotisserie and pizza stone. Endless fun with the kids making pizza with a whole world of flavours.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Zoë: Tufnell Park Bootcamp – run by the totally fabulous Naomi, a bit of a local legend.
Layo: Mr Porter for clothes so I don’t have to go through the awkward moment [in a physical store] when I say “it’s not for me…”.