This summer, a new addition arrives on Islington’s dining scene: Lupa, a Roman-style osteria from actor Theo James and Carousel co-founder Ed Templeton. Promising to bring the warmth of a Roman trattoria to the streets of north London, the pair have enlisted the help of renowned chef, Naz Hassan.

We caught up with Hassan to find out a little bit more…

What made you want to be a part of Lupa?

I was really excited to be asked to be part of Lupa. When I was told about it, I knew it would be successful from the get-go. I felt very lucky to be offered it. 

How it happened is a funny story. The role got offered to me during a staff party at about two in the morning. It almost came about as a joke. I went back home and told my fiancée about it, and she was like, ‘You’re too drunk, what do you mean you’re opening a restaurant with a Hollywood actor?’

Honestly, I think there is a change in trend in the industry. People are moving away from fine dining and small plates and wanting value for their money. So, I wanted to do something like that. I think there’s a lot of potential.

What can diners expect?

The concept of the restaurant is classic Roman trattoria – a popular cooking style accessible to everyone. From the start, you’ll have the canonical dishes, plates interpreted from Roman cooking. 

For example, we have supplì al telefono, which is essentially a ball of fried rice with melted cheese in the middle. We also have all the classic pastas you have in Roman cooking: amatriciana, carbonara, cacio e pepe. Plus, tiramisu and pizza bianca, which is a version of bread they have in Rome. Our selection of salami is from one of the best suppliers in London, and our cheese is some of the best sourced in the UK. 

I really want to bring the traditional style of eating you get in Italian trattorias, where you have a piece of meat and the side without having a complete dish. 

Is there a signature dish that customers must try?

I don’t have a signature dish as such, because I do strongly believe in the whole menu. But I would recommend guests order one of the starters, one of the pastas and one of the mains. 

The carbonara is going to be very special, it’s a dish we’ve worked on very, very hard to find the right balance. It’s difficult to not only find an amazing carbonara but find one that’s marketed for the European market, rather than the Italian one. I think it’s one of our most successful dishes.

Another winner is one of the starters. It’s a fried doughnut that comes with a soft cheese and a selection of salami.

But as I said, it’s difficult for me to recommend just one, it’s like picking between your children!

How would you define your approach to cooking? 

I always dreamed of feeding my friends and that’s my approach; that’s the key ingredient to my cooking. I come from a very humble family and have worked in some of the most elite restaurants in the world, in London especially. But I still always think of what I want to eat and what I would feed my friends and their children. For me, it’s feeding people that I love. That’s the philosophy behind my passion for cooking.

Other than that, I don’t really want to constrict myself to one way of working or close myself into one box.

What has been the proudest moment in your career so far?

I’ve had many proud moments, it’s difficult to pinpoint just one. But a memory I treasure a lot is when I first moved up from kitchen porter to chef, almost 15 years ago now. It felt really special, and that was a proud moment for me. My proudest moment though? I think it’s yet to come. 

Do you have a role model and, if so, how have they influenced your work?

My role models are all the chefs I’ve trained with. Each one has shaped me into the man I am today, not only on a culinary level but a human level as well. Mark Jarvis, Chet Sharma, Sam Ashton-Booth, Stuart Andrew are four chefs that really helped me in my early years. 

If I had to pinpoint one it would probably be Andrew Parkinson, he was head chef at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen. I think the approach he had with the younger generation of chefs and within the kitchen inspired me a lot. The kitchen is an extremely high-pressure setting but he always had the time to talk to each of us individually and just has a really human approach to his work.

Being a very young chef, mental health comes into play a lot and he really looked after the mental and physical health of each of his chefs. You can be a great chef and have all the skills but if you don’t have that human side, you just won’t be as successful. I truly believe that he inspired me to be a better human and that means a lot to me. It really does. 

Is there a piece of advice you’ve been given that has stuck with you? 

When I was still very young, I had a colleague that would come into work and his knives were always super sharp, his hairstyle impeccable and his jackets super polished. Every morning it was like watching perfection walk into work. I remember I looked at my head chef at the time and said, ‘One day I would like to be like him.’ He told me that’s not what I was like. That’s not what I needed to achieve. The thing I needed to achieve was to be the best version of myself, rather than being someone else and [achieving] their success. I think that really helped me. ‘Actually, I can do this myself, I can better myself rather than be someone else.’ That stuck with me. 

When you’re young you admire a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons, but you never stop to admire what you do. You always question whether you’re good enough or doing something correctly and I think, especially for younger people, just have confidence. 

There’s freedom in not knowing what you’re doing – and learning from it. 

What ingredient can you not live without and why?

Salt is the key to the success of a chef. The quality of the salt, the minerality of it, where it comes from, how much it’s been dried, whether it’s been purified or left drying in the sun. It has so many different shapes and forms. Success for a chef is how you season – for pastry chefs, that means sugar, and for me, that means salt. I would not be able to live without really good salt. Italy and France have great cuisine because they have incredible salt. South Asia has an incredible cuisine because they substitute salt with spices. So, I think for European cooking, and my cooking, salt is the key. 

Who would be your dream dinner guest?

That’s a hard one. I admire so many people. Perhaps Diego Rossi from Trippa in Milan, he’s an Italian chef I really admire. He’s just amazing. My parents, they’re also amazing. I honestly feel lucky for every guest we have in the restaurant. I truly do. I know how important everyone that comes in to eat is. 

Lupa, 73 Highbury Park, London N5 1UA; lupa.restaurant