Endo Kazutoshi was on the train to Paris when he heard about the fire. A few hours earlier, at 2am, he had left his restaurant – the tiny, Michelin-starred sushi counter, Endo at the Rotunda, in west London – and headed home, where he got changed and packed his bags for the 6am Eurostar, upon which he planned to sleep. As he boarded the train that morning, 6 September 2025, he was unaware that just after 3am, the fire brigade had been called to a blaze at the Helios building, where his restaurant was located on the eighth floor. The fire had started on a terrace and a few hours later had reached the restaurant’s dining room – built mostly from 200-year-old hinoki wood – the prep kitchen, everything.
Shortly after departure from St Pancras, the news began to reach Endo through early-rising friends; they reassured him and would keep him updated, though details were still unclear. The trip to Paris was intended as a moment of respite after a busy summer’s service. Instead, Endo cleared his schedule and booked the first train home. But there was one appointment he couldn’t bring himself to cancel.
L’Ambroisie – a three-Michelin-star temple on the Place des Vosges, which had held its stars since 1988 – is legendary among gastronomes worldwide, but particularly in Japan, where it is viewed as the pinnacle of fine dining. Endo had booked two months in advance, and this would be his first visit. Unable to return to London until mid-afternoon, he kept his reservation. Underneath a giant Aubusson tapestry, in the grand siecle dining room of his dream restaurant, Endo sat in a fugue state. More than 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines had been deployed to tackle the blaze back in London. “My brain stopped,” he told me. He could only sip sparkling water. He didn’t register the food. “I had no passion. Can’t focus. Zero.”
