Peter Sanchez-Iglesias: ‘I probably won’t open another restaurant.’

‘We first knew there was a problem when we started going quiet on Friday lunch,’ says Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, recounting the moment when he realised he’d have to close the restaurant that had been part of his life for two decades. ‘One spare table doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re charging £180 a head, it’s big. At the same time, VAT was going up. Rent was going up. Energy was going up. Ingredients were going up.

‘Can we charge more than £180 for dinner? It’s a lot. So, we realised - it’s time. And that was it.’

It’s an equation that chefs all over the country are dealing with. Casamia isn’t the first big name to fall foul of the cost of living crisis, nor will it be the last, but it might be one of the most poignant. The restaurant burst onto the scene as a poster boy for the incredible potential British food had yet to realise, and it was a great story; Peter and Jonray Sanchez-Iglesias took over their parents’ neighbourhood trattoria in Westbury-on-Trym, and turned it into a trailblazing, Michelin-starred powerhouse with pure youthful tenacity. They showed that progressive food could work outside the capital, and subsequently played a huge part in launching Bristol’s exuberant food scene.

'If we can have a restaurant like this in Westbury-on-Trym, then Bristol can do anything.'

‘We never really thought about it like that, but it’s nice to hear when people say that Casamia was the start of that movement,’ says Peter. ‘It felt like, if we can have a restaurant like this in Westbury-on-Trym, then Bristol can do anything. Maybe it just gave people a bit of inspiration to try something different.’

We’re sat amid the burnt orange banquettes, cactus plants and macrame curtains of Decimo - Peter’s slick, Spain-meets-Mexico collaboration with The Standard Hotel at King’s Cross in London. It’s a world away from Peter’s Bristolian roots but the high rise glitz and glam clearly hasn’t changed him, as he rocks into the hotel and grabs me by the hand. ‘Alright mate!’ he says with a grin. There’s a warmth and charm that, having grown up in the West Country, feels very homely.

Decimo has become a huge part of Peter’s life now - he spends half his week here - and it all came about through the pair's rising reputation in Bristol. The brothers Sanchez were invited to London in 2012 to take part in the Electrolux Cube - a pop-up on the roof of Royal Festival Hall, which combined great food with stunning London skyline views. ‘The chef line up was just, absolute heavyweights - Tom Kerridge, Sat Bains, Simon Rogan, Daniel Clifford… and then me and Jonray!’ He laughs. ‘We were doing alright for ourselves, but they were like gods to us.’

Through the popup the brothers met developers Harry Handelsman and Andre Balazs, who were working on the opening of Chiltern Firehouse at the time. Save for a sliding doors moment, that restaurant could have been a Sanchez brothers operation, though it's an idea Peter dismisses. ‘We would never have left Casamia at the time, we weren’t ready to let go,’ says Peter. ‘And Nuno (Mendes) was perfect for that project, so it all worked out.’

'As soon as I stood in this space, I knew it was going to happen.'

Later, though, Balazs started The Standard and came calling once again. Peter and Jonray had already turned down lots of London offers, but The Standard was a perfect mixture of ingredients. 'You have the infrastructure behind you with the hotel, but it’s a standalone restaurant,' he explains. 'As soon as I stood in this space, I knew it was going to happen.' Since then, Decimo has established itself as a top London restaurant, but being associated with The Standard also comes with it's own interesting side projects. A couple of months ago, Peter shut the restaurant down for a private party - a post-Notting Hill Carnival celebrity blowout for Megan Thee Stallion. Not bad going for a Bristolian lad from the suburbs.

‘I just loved eating. I think that helps you understand food, because you consume so much of it!’

Peter’s journey in food started with the simplest of motivations. ‘I was a very hungry boy,’ he grins. ‘I just loved eating. I think that helps you understand food, because you consume so much of it!’ When Peter’s dad, Paco, opened Casamia in 1997, Peter’s curiosity drew him into the kitchen, first as an onlooker, and later as a kitchen porter and a chef, still only at the tender age of 14.

He already knew that he loved food, but the opportunity to actually become a chef came about via another set of sliding doors, specifically those of his school bus. When the family moved from Whitchurch to Westbury-on-Trym, Peter’s school trip turned into a two bus odyssey across Bristol’s outer rim, and he’d often miss his second bus, leaving him stranded halfway to school. ‘I’d arrive in Whitchurch and watch my second bus slowly pull away as I arrived,’ he says. ‘My school was a couple of hours walk from there, so I’d just be stuck in Whitchurch.’

That became somewhat of a problem for the school, and for Peter’s mum, whose taxi bill went through the roof. The solution probably ended up changing his life - the school suggested Peter could enrol in full-time catering college instead; naturally, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. ‘I was like, er, yes please!’ he laughs.

Joined in the kitchen by his brother later on, the two turned Casamia into a huge success and received national acclaim. But for all its innovation, Casamia was still a family restaurant that cared about feeding people. Peter and Jonray shared kitchen duties, and parents Paco and Sue both worked in the restaurant too. They have always been a tight-knit family, and only more so since Jonray sadly passed away in 2015 after a brave battle with cancer.

'Italian food is embedded in our roots.'

From Casamia, Decimo was born. So too was Paco Tapas - the Sanchez family's outstanding Spanish restaurant by Bristol’s Bathurst Basin, which scooped a Michelin star in 2017. Closing Casamia turns the page on a long chapter, but that presents another opportunity for something new and exciting. ‘We thought we’d lose everything when Coronavirus first came around,’ says Peter, ‘so I’d already started thinking about what would happen if we had to close Casamia. To be honest, I realised that there was a lot I wanted to change.’

From the ashes of Casamia comes Casa - a more accessible, neighbourhood-style Italian restaurant that goes back to the family’s roots, carrying on the legacy of the restaurant that Paco opened 25 years ago. Like Paco Tapas, Peter is determined for Casa to be a flexible everyman, where you can come for a no-holds-barred gastronomic experience, or a glass of wine and a great plate of pasta. ‘That flexibility is the future of the restaurant scene, I think,’ he says, ‘but it has to be harmonious and not feel preconceived.’

Lots of old Casamia favourites will be returning to the menu too, the irony of which is not lost on Peter. 'When we started changing things at Casamia, we had some regulars who felt like we'd ruined the restaurant,' he says. 'All they wanted was the cannelloni and we'd taken it off the menu!' Safe to say, some of those regulars will be returning for cannelloni, osso buco and tiramisu, as well as dishes like the prawn crudo and seasonal double agnolotti, pictured above.

'Our staff are on good wages, but I want them to be on exceptional wages.'

The truth is, his priorities have changed. Casamia was about unbridled creativity and pushing the boundaries of what food could be in Bristol. Peter has his own family now, and three brigades of chefs working underneath him in two different cities. ‘That's why I probably won’t open another restaurant,’ he says. ‘Opportunities might come, but I want to give my people opportunities. Our staff are on good wages, but I want them to be on exceptional wages. I want to see people progress, and I still want to be in tune with the kitchens and the people who work there.’

At heart, though, Peter is still just a guy who loves food - he gets as much satisfaction from cooking a cheese toastie for his kids as he does from shutting down Decimo for Megan Thee Stallion. ‘The rewarding bit is just cooking for people,’ he says. ‘It just takes a long time to understand that.’

Find out why everyone is making a fuss of food in the West Country with our pick of the best restaurants in Bristol.