Endo at the Rotunda, rated Britain’s No 1 restaurant in the 2025 Harden’s 100 list, is closed following a fire that burned for almost 14 hours in the Helios building – the former BBC television centre in White City – on Saturday.
The London fire brigade was called to the scene at 3.15am and brought the blaze under control just after 5pm. More than 100 firefighters, 15 fire engines and a drone were involved in the operation. One person was treated by the ambulance service, but there were no reports of injury or death.
The restaurant was founded in 2019 by Japanese sushi master Endo Kazutoshi on the top of the landmark circular building, now converted into upmarket apartments. It made an immediate impact on the London dining scene with 20-course omakase meals served to just 16 diners at each sitting – an “extraordinary gastronomic experience” that has won consistent praise in the annual Harden’s survey.
Endo closed the restaurant for five months last summer for a refit that reduced the capacity to just 10, sitting at a specially commissioned counter made from 200-year-old Hinoki wood. The chef spent some of his summer break this year cooking with chef Yasutaka Ishibashi at his restaurant in Fukuoka, Kyushu, and returned to London last month promising further evolution of his cooking with “even greater dishes”.
He has yet to make any announcement in the aftermath of the fire.
