High above King’s Cross, Decimo hums with fire, smoke, and stories. On the 10th floor of The Standard, Chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias and Paola Arenas have been slowly carving out a space that’s both rooted and restless: part Spanish, part Mexican, wholly its own. With a new set of dishes—Lobster a la Talla, Pigeon with Mole, Tamal with Wild Mushrooms and Truffle, and Crab Empanada—they’re showing diners another side of what Decimo can be. We sat down with Pete and Paola to talk tradition, innovation, and what it means to cook in the sky above London.
When you think about these new dishes together, what kind of story do they tell about Decimo right now?
Pete: They feel like a snapshot of where we are as a restaurant—rooted in tradition but restless, always looking for ways to push further. They tell a story of fire, of generosity, of flavours that feel familiar but land in new ways.
Paola: For me, they reflect the dialogue we’ve been having since Decimo opened—between Spain and Mexico, between memory and innovation. They’re our way of showing people that these two food cultures are not fixed points; they’re living, breathing, evolving.
How do you balance tradition and innovation when creating a dish that feels rooted but still surprising?
Paola: We start from a place of respect. Every dish begins with asking: what does this mean in its home context? And then, how can we tell that story here in London, on the 10th floor? The surprise comes not from gimmicks, but from listening carefully to the produce, the fire, the room itself.
Pete: You can’t force innovation—it comes naturally when you’re working honestly with ingredients. The roots are what anchor you, and once those are strong, you can branch out with confidence.
What does seasonality mean to you in the context of Spanish and Mexican food cultures, and how did that influence these dishes?
Pete: Seasonality is everything. It’s the pulse of the kitchen. Right now we’ve got incredible shellfish, so lobster and crab felt right—they connect the Spanish coastline with the flavours of the Mexican Pacific.
Paola: In Mexico, seasonality also means ritual—certain dishes belong to certain moments, certain celebrations. We try to honour that rhythm. London has its own seasons too, and weaving them together creates something unique.
Lobster a la Talla
“A la talla” is a technique with deep roots in coastal Mexican cooking. How are you interpreting it with lobster, and what does that say about Decimo’s point of view?
Paola: Traditionally, a la talla is done with fish, butterflied and brushed with chilli pastes, cooked over fire. We wanted to take that language and apply it to lobster—something luxurious, almost celebratory. It shows how Decimo is always moving between the rustic and the refined.
Pete: Lobster has sweetness, delicacy, but it can also take the intensity of smoke and heat. For us, it’s about showing that elegance and fire can exist in the same bite.
What role does fire and smoke play in the flavour and drama of this dish?
Pete: Fire is the heartbeat of Decimo. It’s not just flavour, it’s drama, it’s theatre, it’s life. With the lobster, the smoke gives depth, but it also makes the dish feel alive in the room—people can smell it, see it, feel it.
Pigeon, Mole
Mole is often described as a dish of memory, ritual, and patience. What drew you to pair it with pigeon?
Paola: Mole is history in a sauce—it carries generations within it. Pigeon is bold, gamey, with a wildness that holds up to that complexity. Together, they create a conversation between earth and sky, tradition and immediacy.
Pete: We wanted to find a protein that wasn’t obvious. Pigeon has intensity without heaviness. It lets the mole shine without disappearing into it.
How do you navigate the complexity of mole while keeping the dish elegant for the Decimo table?
Paola: Mole is layered but it doesn’t need to be heavy. We strip it back to its essence—letting each flavour have space. The dish is bold but precise, not overwhelming.
Tamal, Wild Mushrooms, Truffle
The tamal is such a humble, everyday food in Mexico—what inspired you to elevate it with mushrooms and truffle?
Paola: For me, the tamal is comfort—it’s something I grew up with. Bringing in wild mushrooms and truffle allows us to show how something deeply familiar can also feel elevated, almost ceremonial. It’s still humble at its heart, but with a richness that makes you stop and pay attention.
Pete: Mushrooms and truffle are ingredients of the forest—earthy, deep, grounding. They bring out the quiet power of the masa.
Is there a particular moment or reference that sparked this version of the dish?
Paola: I was thinking about the feeling of being handed a tamal in Mexico City, warm, wrapped, eaten on the street. I wanted to honour that memory, but also give it the intensity of a London winter, where mushrooms and truffles feel so right.
Crab Empanada
Empanadas have countless regional styles—what tradition are you nodding to here, and what’s your own twist?
Pete: We’ve looked at the Galician style of empanada, which often uses seafood, but we wanted it smaller, more immediate—something you can hold in your hand. The twist is really in the details: the pastry, the spicing, the depth of the crab.
Paola: It’s a nod to tradition, but also our way of saying: this is Decimo, and we’re not afraid to play with form.
How do you see the empanada working within the rhythm of a Decimo meal—snack, starter, or centerpiece?
Pete: It’s a rhythm-setter. A dish that can start the meal, open up the appetite, and set the tone for what’s to come.
How do these dishes connect London diners more closely with the landscapes and traditions of Spain and Mexico?
Paola: They’re bridges. The lobster connects coasts, the mole connects kitchens, the tamal connects memories. We want people in London to feel the sun, the soil, the sea of those places—even while looking out at the skyline here.
Pete: It’s not about imitation. It’s about evocation. Giving diners a sense of those landscapes through the lens of London.
Do you think about dishes as part of Decimo’s identity evolving over time, or more as seasonal “chapters”?
Pete: Both. Some dishes become part of our DNA; others are like chapters, appearing for a season then moving on. Together they shape the rhythm of the restaurant.
Paola: Decimo itself is evolving—we’re not fixed. These dishes are part of that story of growth.
The new dishes at Decimo are more than recipes—they’re stories, memories, and landscapes, carried into a room on the 10th floor of The Standard. Fire below, city lights all around. For Pete and Paola, that’s the point: not just feeding people, but giving them a sense of being somewhere else, while still being exactly here.
