Nestled within a converted Edwardian house in the heart of Hastings New Town, Lury is more than just a debut restaurant; it’s a 10-seat love letter to heritage and craftsmanship.
Founded by husband-and-wife duo Jack Lury and Issy Cianchi, this intimate coastal gem serves as a bridge between the couple’s London roots and Jack’s Sri Lankan ancestry.
Each evening at 7:00 PM, guests are invited into a serene, design-led space meticulously curated by Issy, to experience a multi-course tasting menu with offerings that are a sophisticated hybrid of European techniques and South Asian ingredients.
For this week’s Sunday Series, we sat down with Jack and Issy to discuss their journey from Mayfair kitchens and film sets to the shores of East Sussex, and how they’ve balanced family life with the creation of one of the most personal dining experiences in the UK today.
Jack, your menu incorporates your heritage. How do you balance those specific European roots with Sri Lankan ingredients without one overshadowing the other?
Jack: I think when we first opened this was something I was incredibly aware of - essentially did the restaurant feel Sri Lankan ‘enough’. But as time has gone on, I’ve become more comfortable and confident in my style of cooking and I think about it less. Some dishes lean more heavily on spices and Sri Lankan influences, and some draw more heavily on classical French cooking. I think the menu as a whole has a feel which guests sometimes struggle to pinpoint, and that uniqueness is I think now more important to me than getting too bogged down in whether a dish balances the Sri Lankan and the European equally.
Which specific dish on your menu feels the most like a direct link to those family memories?
Jack: We have featured a crab bisque several times in different guises, which is sort of an adapted version of a Sri Lankan crab curry, but with some classical technique thrown in. I have distinct memories of having crab curry at home growing up on special occasions and this is one of only a few dishes which was directly inspired by a particular memory.
Running a multi-course tasting menu entirely alone is a massive undertaking. How does your experience in high-pressure Mayfair kitchens compare to the intimacy of cooking for just 10 guests?
Jack: A lot of what I was doing by the end of my time in London was private dining, and so actually in many ways the transition to a small restaurant has not been as dramatic as it might have been. Cooking alone, all the pressure is on you. If something is right or wrong, there is no one else to fall back on. Once that menu is printed that’s what must be served that week. It’s absolutely intense, and I probably complain every week that I should reduce the number of courses, but in reality I need that pressure to do good work.
What is very different is the amount of control I now have, which I find incredibly important. The restaurant’s food is purely what I want to cook. We offer one menu for everyone which is just an expression of what I feel like making. We have a few dishes that have stuck around but for the most part, once something comes off the menu, it doesn’t come back. I feel like that idea is over for me and I need something new.
What do you enjoy most about offering a tasting menu?
Jack: It’s various things - it allows me to express more ideas in the short space of time I have with a guest. But also I feel that I am able to better take the diner on a journey and tell the story I want with a series of smaller dishes rather than an a la carte setup. It also lends itself to realities of the economics of restaurants nowadays - a no choice tasting menu means we can operate with virtually zero waste.
How did Issy’s background in set design help you transform an Edwardian ground floor into a space that feels both like Hastings and Sri Lanka?
Issy: It was hugely beneficial in simply being able to visualise the potential for the space and also having the experience and confidence to execute it. We did everything ourselves and we think the result gives it an incredibly personal feel. We specifically didn’t want to try and copy any other restaurants, or follow a formula for how those kinds of spaces should look, and so we wouldn’t say the space looks particularly Sri Lankan or ‘Hastings’ but the combination of design inspiration from both places has made something new and lovely. The before and after images are hugely satisfying to us and almost make up for how awful sanding the floors by hand was…
The restaurant uses custom wall-hangings, napkins, and plate-ware from Sri Lanka. Why was it important to you to source these physical elements from the country rather than just the ingredients?
Issy: We had a family trip planned to Sri Lanka just after we got the keys to the restaurant and had an intense couple months of renovations ahead of us so being in Sri Lanka was the perfect time to really immerse ourselves in the visual texture of the country and culture and think about how best to display some of that in the space. We knew we needed to add something to the space to soften the brickwork and it felt like a no-brainer to use the beautiful handwoven fabric from Sri Lankan design house, Barefoot. People often ask about the interiors of the restaurant and it would have felt like a disservice to the concept of the project if we had just chosen random items with no real thought or connection behind them. We were surprised and thrilled to discover that Hastings is a hub for artists, particularly ceramicists and so alongside our artist in residence project, where a local artist displays their work in the space on rotation, we have also had lots of dishware created locally which feels like a really soulful way to blend two places.
After years in the London food scene and private members' clubs, what was it about Hastings New Town that felt like the right spot for your debut restaurant?
Jack: Issy and I both felt ready to leave London but we didn’t have a clear direction as to where we would go. We narrowed it down to ‘by the sea’ and Hastings was actually quite a spontaneous decision. We had thought that after being here for a couple of years we might look into opening a small restaurant - but opportunities presented themselves and we saw the property we’re currently located in was up for rent about two weeks after we moved here. I think we’re both of the belief that there’s never a perfect time for things, so we just went for it and decided to do the restaurant right away. Being in Hastings New Town felt important to us though as we live here ourselves a few minutes away from the restaurant, and we wanted the space to feel part of the community, not set apart.
Now that you’ve transitioned to a permanent home with your family, how do you see the menu evolving as you become more settled in the local coastal community?
Jack: Sourcing ingredients is obviously a huge part of what we do and finding new suppliers and developing those relationships is very important to us. What we would love is to find more small-scale local farmers and growers who can supply us with particular ingredients they do really well that we can build dishes around. We’ve gradually increased the menu from 9 courses to about 12 which was also important to me, simply because it allowed me to express the arc I wanted the meal to have.
How does it feel to have created a restaurant with your partner, and what is something you both learnt from the process?
Issy: Before this project we had never discussed the idea of working together but thankfully we couldn’t be happier to have done it. I love food but have no interest in cooking and Jack loves beautiful spaces but hasn’t got a clue where to start in creating one, and so our strengths have really complemented one another. We both have a deep appreciation for what the other brings to the project and have defined enough roles that we don’t step on each other’s toes and have the confidence in the other person's abilities to let them just get on with their side of the job. We probably have both learnt the hard way that having two small children and a restaurant is astonishingly hard work but probably the most rewarding time of our lives so far.
A question for our readers, who would love a recommendation from you. If you had to pick one spot in London for a date night meal, what would it be?
Jack: Having been down here for a couple of years now we get back to London less than we might like, so we aren’t well placed to recommend somewhere we already go, but a place we’re very keen to try is The Cocochine in Mayfair - Larry Jayasekara’s looks like he’s also doing really amazing things combining Sri Lankan food with classical training, but in a way that is totally different to us.
By eschewing the rigid rules of traditional cuisine in favor of a highly personal, 12-course narrative, Jack and Issy have created something that feels less like a commercial venture and more like an invitation into their own home. Whether it’s through the warmth of Barefoot handwoven fabrics or the nostalgic depth of a crab bisque, Lury serves as a reminder that the best food doesn't just fill a plate, it tells a story.
As they continue to forge bonds with local growers and refine their soulful, coastal-inspired menu, one thing is certain: Jack and Issy have found their rhythm, and the UK’s dining scene is all the richer for it.
