A Long Lunch Club with CASA LAWA
Meet Lukas Lewandowski - the man behind CASA LAWA, a technicolour dreamworld guesthouse, creative residency, and kitchen space on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily.
This August, Rondo at The Hoxton, Holborn welcomes CASA LAWA for a series of long summer lunches inspired by the holidays we never want to end. The Long Lunch Club celebrates the sun-soaked flavours of Sicily, right in the heart of London. We sat down with founder Lukas Lewandowski to tell us a bit about his inspirations, his favourite food scenes and most importantly, who he’d invite to his dream lunch.
For anyone who hasn’t come across CASA LAWA before, tell us a bit about yourself and how it all began.
I’m Lukas Lewandowski, the founder and creative director of CASA LAWA. I’m Polish- born, Dutch raised, and I’ve spent much of my life moving between countries, collecting ideas, objects, recipes and memories along my way. CASA LAWA is an old lava stone house from 1812 on the slopes of Mount Etna. What started as a personal project grew into a guesthouse, a creative space and, most importantly, a place where strangers come together around one table.
“The perfect long lunch should feel effortless – you need simple seasonal food, plenty of wine or something refreshing, a big dessert and music that gets louder as the afternoon goes on.”
CASA LAWA has built a cult following around bringing people together over food. What, in your opinion, makes the perfect long lunch?
The perfect long lunch should feel effortless, even if a huge amount of work has gone into it. You need simple seasonal food, plenty of wine or something refreshing non-alcoholic, a big dessert, music that gets louder as the afternoon goes on, and a mix of people who never meet but they have something in common: they all love to eat!
You’ve eaten your way around the world. Which destination do you think has the most underrated food scene, and what makes it so special?
Poland has one of the most underrated food scenes. People often reduce Polish food to pierogi, but it is so much more: fermentation, wild mushrooms, forest fruits, incredible soups, smoked fish and recipes shaped by many different cultures. There is also a new generation of Polish chefs taking those traditions somewhere completely fresh and I’m very excited about this movement!
If you could invite any three people, past or present, to one of your long lunches, who would be on the guest list and why?
Anthony Bourdain, because he understood that food is really about people, culture and curiosity. Lina Bo Bardi, because I would love to hear how she thought about spaces designed for people to gather. And Raffaella CarrĂ , because every long lunch needs someone glamorous who will eventually get everyone dancing.
If you had to describe yourself as a pasta shape, which would you be and why?
Busiate. It’s Sicilian, a little twisted, full of character and very good at holding onto all the sauce. Much like me, it may look chaotic, but somehow it works.
If you could step into the love story of any film, which one would you choose and why?
I would step into I Am Love. The Milanese architecture, the clothes, the food, Tilda Swinton and all that beautiful, complicated desire—it has everything. I might rewrite the ending, though.
Want to take a piece of CASA LAWA home with you? Head to our Hox Shop at The Hoxton, Holborn to shop limited-edition CASA LAWA merch. Get it whilst it’s hot.
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