“I’ll be honest, it’s been a long three weeks,” Angelo Sato tells Broadsheet as he de-shells blush-pink langoustine. He’s just opened his restaurant Humble Chicken for the third time – on this occasion, in pursuit of its third Michelin star. “It’s been quite stressful, but no pain, no gain.”
The restaurant opened as a casual yakitori spot in 2021. Sato switched gears in 2023 and ditched the chicken skewers in favour of a tasting menu blending influences from his Japanese upbringing and years in the UK. In 2024 Humble Chicken earned its first Michelin star. Earlier this year it gained a second. Sato’s experience in the world of Michelin dining is deep: he worked under Clare Smyth at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, then with Adam Byatt at Trinity in Clapham.
Sato had planned on closing the restaurant for its third renovation before the 2025 guide announcement. But among industry insiders, rumours swirled that Sato had received an insider tip-off from Michelin that he’d be awarded a second star. The rumour went he delayed the redesign to maximise his chances of getting a third.
According to the chef, this is only half true. He says the reality is he didn’t know if the building’s new landlord would be renewing his lease. But he acknowledges “the goal has always been to have a three-star restaurant, since I was 13 years old watching the 1999 Gordon Ramsay documentary series Boiling Point.” Now 30, and after completely overhauling both the restaurant and its menu, he plans to make it happen.
A high-end £235 omakase-style menu leans into local produce alongside ingredients sourced from Japan – Wagyu, miso, white kelp. There’s no menu online: Sato prefers diners going in cold; he wants the dishes to remain a mystery until guests are actually eating them. And the experience goes beyond the food.
“I’ve been to all the three-star restaurants in the UK and I don’t remember anything I ate, not a single thing,” he says. “But I remember how someone made me feel – when a waiter came and spoke to me and made a connection – and that’s what makes you come back to the restaurant.”
Michelin-star restaurants may call to mind a stiff style of dining, but Sato is keen to avoid that, envisioning “fine dining for the next generation” that’s “less stuffy.
Sato has spent £1 million on the site’s refurbishment (think plenty of cherry joinery and marble). But he’s acutely aware of not becoming a restaurant that drops millions of pounds on a fit-out but doesn’t “have any soul”. He references Gordon Ramsay when he opened his eponymous, now-flagship restaurant.
“Even though it probably wasn’t the most expensive restaurant in terms of design, you could feel that they were striving for something. I think customers can feel that and I think Michelin can feel that, too.
“I truly believe if you just work hard and keep your head down, they will recognise you and reward you.”
Humble Chicken
54 Frith Street, London W1D 4SJ
Hours:
Wed to Fri 6pm–late
Sat 1pm–3pm