Adam Byatt on his new restaurant Rosina

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Sitting with Adam Byatt just weeks before his restaurant Rosina opens, he looks unruffled. There are decorators around us, and he’s just finished a meeting about the wine list. If there are any nerves beneath the surface, they don’t show. In fact, Adam is beaming as he walks me around his new Wandsworth Common venture, talking about the artwork and photography that he has sourced, the wood-fired oven, and a road trip around Italy with his daughter Rosie to source the ingredients – the restaurant is named in her honour, and she will play a key role in the kitchen.

A few weeks later, Adam is still smiling at the launch party, surrounded by the many friends and supporters he has built up over the years. He’s been in the business since he started at Claridge’s at just 16, rising to become one of the most respected chefs in the industry, gaining a Michelin star for Trinity in 2016, and was honoured with the prestigious Mentor Chef Award by Michelin last year.

His new restaurant sits on a corner spot overlooking Wandsworth Common, a site previously occupied by Brinkley’s, and a spot Adam has had his eye on for years. Michelin-starred Chez Bruce is down the road. But Adam says that Rosina is an entirely different proposition – it’s not another Trinity in waiting. It’s Italian-inspired, casual.

Adam says: “I felt like that would be the right thing for this site and also I’ve cooked classical French gastronomy for 36 years. You get to a point where you think, well, actually, when I go out, or when I’m at home, most of the time I’m eating Italian/ Mediterranean food.”

“So we wanted Rosina to be Italian but not in a cheesy three-foot-pepper mill way. Just hone in on what Italian restaurants do really well: the hospitality, the table theatre and the focus on the quality of the produce.”

Rosina suits the economic climate too, is Adam’s rationale: a neighbourhood restaurant where you can pop in for a bowl of pasta or some cocktails and antipasti at the bar. “The dishes are simpler in a good way. French gastronomy is high production, high elevation of a simple product. It’s very labour intensive.

The food may be simpler than Trinity, but a great deal of thought has gone into sourcing the produce. Adam and Rosie set out on an Italian road trip with a small team, including a cameraman, to research ingredients and gather footage for a YouTube series ahead of the opening. “We spent six days travelling from Milan to Sicily, stopping at 25 different places: suppliers, chefs, people’s houses, bars, cafés, restaurants, hole-in-the-wall spots, just to get those little pockets of inspiration.”

“It changed the direction of the menu – we are cooking more traditionally than we originally intended and not being led by London trends.” He is particularly excited by the pasta and risotto dishes – on his trip, he discovered Riso Buono rice that he describes as “the best risotto rice in the world.” The antipasti is a highlight, and Adam talks with pride about the bar menu, including an impressive Negroni list.

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Several members of the kitchen team have come across from Adam’s other restaurants. Rosie, who has just turned 18, will shape the dessert menu. She has already worked alongside her dad at Trinity.

Rosie is autistic, and Adam says the new restaurant has been designed with her in mind. “The lightness, the calmness of it, the less formal food. It was designed around a restaurant that could suit Rosie.”

Adam feels that hospitality has some way to go in seeing the benefit of hiring neurodivergent people. “It’s a creative environment, it’s stimulating, and I think hospitality needs to recognise the benefit of taking on neurodivergent people who are super-creative and can do a multitude of things. Hopefully Rosie can be an example.”

Rosie joins us to talk about the dessert menu – there is a lemon sorbet served inside a lemon, and the most incredible tiramisu, which we got to try at the restaurant launch. She says: “On our road trip we met a woman making tiramisu without the alcohol, you don’t need it. She also uses a particular type of thin biscuit, which works really well to soak up the flavours.

She says she’s excited to be working in the kitchen. “There’s a great sense of community in the kitchen and working as a team.”

Adam is now involved with seven restaurants: Trinity, Upstairs, Bistro Union, Brasserie Constance, Rosina, Wildflowers and Charlie’s at Brown’s Hotel, where he is chef director. So, how’s he going to make sure he doesn’t spread himself too thin? “The answer is to stop. I realise that this is as far as I want to go. You also have to remember that I have a few things in place that make it work. I can get to every single restaurant within 20 minutes.

“They’ve also got very good people working in them – my job is to give steerage and support. I provide a platform for people to be brilliant.”

But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Adam has spoken to us previously about how the work took its toll in the past. “I didn’t look after myself very well. I didn’t delegate very well. I didn’t step back from the business and look at the bigger picture.”

“People see what we have now but it’s the result of a journey that nobody would particularly want to go on.” The turning point came in 2015. “We closed Trinity, we did a refurb, spent a whole lot of money and we changed the way we worked and I changed the way I worked.”

The pandemic also gave him time for some reflection. “It was like a reset – to take a look in the mirror and decide what was working in my life and what needed to get better.” Running, saunas and cold plunges all help “quieten his mind,” he says.

Trinity’s 20th anniversary falls on 12 September, with Trinity: The Cookbook coming out in October. He has worked with his close friend, journalist James Steen, on the book. James’s father was the photographer David Steen, and his striking images of Twiggy, Lee Marvin and Sophia Loren line the walls of Rosina.

Adam says the book is not about him, but the journey of Trinity – two decades’ worth of stories, alongside recipes including signature dishes such as semi-smoked salmon with beurre blanc, and tarte tatin. “I’m unbelievably proud of it. It’s like a pinch-me moment to be able to produce this book. It will hopefully be something that young chefs will refer to but also people will cook from – there’s definitely 150 recipes in there that everyone can cook.”

What’s been his proudest moment of Trinity? “Getting to 20 years, still being married with kids who will speak to me. And with my mental health relatively intact. That feels like a massive achievement.”

“I put my life and soul into Trinity and I’ve realised that I’m never going to do a piece of work like Trinity again. I’m too old. But it’s my pièce de résistance, and I’m pretty proud of it.”

Try Trinity’s recipe for cheesecake