The cook's name goes over the door and the food is the cook's; the money, the site and the operation belong to Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina Sethi, who put their initials on JKS. The rooms run from a Mayfair Indian to a southern Thai cafe over a food court.
JKS and the rooms it backs.
a habit of the place · Soho, Mayfair, Shoreditch and Borough
What it is
Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina Sethi founded a company in 2008 and put their initials on it. Their money pays for other cooks' restaurants. 7 Gymkhana opened in 2013 as its second room, after Trishna. Jay Rayner's line on the company is that "JKS has many talents. One of them is choosing their chef-restaurateur partners." 1 The chef's name goes over the door and the food is the chef's; the money, the site and the operation are the group's. Jyotin Sethi describes the model in one sentence of his own: "discovering exceptional talent and working together to create something special". 2
Why it matters here
Gymkhana is the room the whole arrangement is measured against, to the point that the group's own demand figures still use it as the unit. Chet Sharma, a year into BiBi, reported what his backer told him: they "haven't had more demand for any restaurant since Gymkhana launched". 10 Nieves Barragán Mohacho opened Sabor with the same backing and then Legado with it, and the MICHELIN guide starred the second one in 2026. 9 Kian Samyani cooked at Gymkhana and Brigadiers before the group gave him Berenjak Soho under his own name. 3 Book Gymkhana, Berenjak and Sabor in one week and you have booked three rooms the same family paid for.
How it is done
Luke Farrell's first room with the group, Plaza Khao Gaeng, opened upstairs over Arcade Food Theatre at the base of Centrepoint, and only then did the partnership get a company name of its own: Chaiyo Restaurants, which now holds Speedboat Bar too. 5 What the backing buys the cook is the freedom to be obsessive about one thing. Farrell brings cuttings of Thai herbs back from Thailand and grows them in glasshouses on his father's Dorset farm, "because they are diminished by being imported frozen". 1
Who does it
Erchen Chang, Shing Tat Chung and Wai Ting Chung were selling bao off a stall at Netil Market when the Sethis found them in 2015, and ten years later BAO Soho and its siblings were seven rooms. 2 Chung's own account of what the money was is not a balance sheet: "BAO's success is thanks to the belief that Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina placed in us." 2 Andy Oliver and Mark Dobbie took the other road. They met at Nahm under David Thompson, ran Som Saa Restaurant as a pop-up in Climpson's Arch, and went to the public for the permanent site: forty-five per cent of the brand offered on Crowdcube to raise £550,000, with £200,000 of their own on the table. 6 That is what bought Kolae, their own second room in an old Borough coach house, with nobody's initials on it. 11
On the list
cooked with at
GymkhanaThe guide names the group by this room, and every later partnership gets measured against it.
“Both involved the Sethi brothers’ company JKS Restaurants. They have an impressive spread of ventures, from the Mayfair Indian [Gymkhana](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/oct/13/gymkhana-indian-restaurant-jay-rayner), through the Iranian kebab house [Berenjak](https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jan/17/jay-rayner-meal-kit-review-berenjak-pizarro-covid-lockdown-kebab-patatas-bravas-paella-chorizo), to the Bao group, of which the now closed Xu was a part.”
The Guardian, Jay Rayner, 2 April 2023 [1]
cooked with at
Berenjak SohoKian Samyani came up through the group's own kitchens, and then he got a name of his own over the door.
“The head chef is Iranian-born Kian Samyani, who has previously worked at the group’s more grown-up powerhouses, Gymkhana and Brigadiers.”
Time Out London, Tania Ballantine, 18 December 2023 [3]
cooked with at
Hoppers SohoIt was still on the books in 2025, when the trade press listed who the group was backing.
“JKS Restaurants’ still supports a number of operators including Hoppers, Sabor, and James and Sandia Chang’s Kitchen Table.”
Restaurant, Joe Lutrario, 21 July 2025 [2]
cooked with at
SaborNieves Barragán Mohacho opened this one first, and her second was measured against it.
“Her sophomore album, once again launched in partnership with JKS Restaurants, explores a more modern, regionally diverse expression of Spanish cooking.”
National Restaurant Awards, profile of Legado [8]
cooked with at
LegadoThe same chef opened this with the same backing, and the 2026 guide starred it.
“In London, Nieves Barragán Mohacho has followed up the success of <a href="https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/greater-london/london/restaurant/sabor">Sabor</a> with <strong><a href="https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/greater-london/london/restaurant/legado">Legado</a></strong> in Shoreditch – another joyous celebration of Spanish flavours.”
MICHELIN Guide UK editorial team, 9 February 2026 [9]
cooked with at
BiBiChet Sharma cooks here, and the backer compares the demand to Gymkhana's opening.
“We’re consistently fully booked. JKS Restaurants (BiBi’s partner) says they haven’t had more demand for any restaurant since Gymkhana launched.”
National Restaurant Awards, Chet Sharma interviewed a year in [10]
cooked with at
Plaza Khao GaengLuke Farrell opened this one first with the group, upstairs over their own food court.
“The first restaurant he opened with JKS was Plaza Khao Gaeng, a southern Thai café in the upstairs space above their Arcade food court at the base of Centrepoint.”
The Guardian, Jay Rayner, 2 April 2023 [1]
cooked with at
Speedboat BarFarrell's second room is where the partnership took a company name of its own.
“Plaza Khao Gaeng forms part of Chaiyo Restaurants, the Thai restaurant group from Farrell and JKS Restaurants, which includes [Speedboat Bar](https://thecaterer.com/news/luke-farrell-to-launch-second-speedboat-bar-in-london-notting-hill).”
The Caterer, Jungmin Seo, 14 April 2026 [5]
cooked with at
Arcade Food TheatreThe group runs this food court at the base of Centrepoint, and Plaza Khao Gaeng opened upstairs from it.
“a southern Thai café in the upstairs space above their Arcade food court at the base of Centrepoint”
The Guardian, Jay Rayner, 2 April 2023 [1]
cooked with at
BAO SohoJKS backed BAO out of a Netil Market stall in 2015 and sold its position in 2025, after seven London rooms.
“Originally founded as a bao-focused street food stall in East London’s Netil Market, BAO partnered with Gymkhana and Trishna owner JKS Restaurants in 2015 and has gone on to launch seven restaurants in the capital.”
Restaurant, Joe Lutrario, 21 July 2025 [2]
cooked with at
Som Saa RestaurantThis one went to the public for its money instead, and raised it.
“A sizeable 45% of the restaurant brand is being offered up on the crowdfunding platform, with the chaps looking to raise £550,000 from investors. They are stumping up £200,000 of their own money.”
Harden's, September 2015 [6]
cooked with at
KolaeThe crowdfund eventually bought this, Andy Oliver and Mark Dobbie's own second room, with nobody's initials on it.
“The Som Saa duo opened this Thai bar and grill in Borough Market, having successfully crowdfunded for a new location pre-pandemic.”
Harden's, editor's entry on Kolae [11]
The story
The partnerships end, and 2025 ended two of them. Lyle's in Shoreditch closed, and in July the Singapore-based Lo and Behold Group bought the group's position in BAO after ten years. 2 Growth is the other cost. Berenjak went from one Soho room to Borough, Mayfair, three outlets in the Gulf and Soho House in Brooklyn, and Harden's reporters felt it in the cooking: "a slight slip in ratings and a couple of mixed reports". 4 Hoppers Soho and Sabor remain with the group, alongside James and Sandia Chang's Kitchen Table. 2
Sources & mentions
- [1]The Guardian, Jay Rayner, 2 April 2023
“JKS has many talents. One of them is choosing their chef-restaurateur partners.”
“He brings in cuttings of Thai herbs and plants to grow here in glasshouses on his father’s farm, because they are diminished by being imported frozen.”
- [2]Restaurant, Joe Lutrario, 21 July 2025, quoting Jyotin Sethi
“Their story reflects what we strive for at JKS - discovering exceptional talent and working together to create something special.”
“BAO’s success is thanks to the belief that Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina placed in us. Our partnership took us from a humble street-food stall to opening seven restaurants together, and we’ve learned so much from their relentless drive for excellence”
“Earlier this year, the closure of Shoreditch restaurant Lyle’s <a href="" rel="" title="">saw the end of another of JKS Restaurants’ partnerships.</a>”
- [3]Time Out London, Tania Ballantine, 18 December 2023
“And that money has come from the JKS group, the team who brought us Bao and Hoppers, among others.”
- [4]Harden's, reporters on Berenjak
“But while most reports say “everything is delicious”, some growing pains were in evidence this year, with a slight slip in ratings and a couple of mixed reports (“the menu looks balanced and execution was carefully thought of… some dishes were outstanding while some very disappointing”).”
“has now spread to three outlets in the Gulf and Soho House in Brooklyn, as well as its London operations in Soho, Borough and – open in 2025 – in a new development next to the Barley Mow on Duke Street in Mayfair”
- [5]The Caterer, Jungmin Seo, 14 April 2026, on Luke Farrell's other rooms
“Farrell, who trained at Spanish-Italian restaurant group Salt Yard, is also behind Vietpopulaire, Bebek!Bebek! and Phed Power in London’s Battersea.”
- [6]Harden's, September 2015, on Som Saa's founders
“Founded by chefs Andy Oliver and Mark Dobbie – who met at London’s prestigious Nahm under the tutelage of the somewhat legendary David Thompson – and managed by Tom George, the restaurant has been a resounding since success since it took up residency in the railway arches by London Fields this winter.”
“Now the trio behind it are looking for a home of their own and (as many budding restaurateurs are doing these days) they have turned to crowd-funding as a major source of finance.”
- [7]JKS Restaurants, operator's own site, read 1 August 2026
“Founded in 2008, and currently operating 15 restaurants in Central London and 5 Indian home delivery kitchens. Our philosophy is based on an attitude of restless innovation, boundary pushing and spontaneity.”
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