London has been turned on to the foods of Sri Lanka for some time, but of the city’s restaurant Hoppers, which Karan Gokani manages as part of his wife’s family business, the Evening Standard  says, “nowhere else is it done so seductively.” Named for the crêpes made from fermented rice and coconut milk batter, beloved by southern Indians and Sri Lankans, Hoppers features dishes that range from spicy shrimp to a guinea fowl kari (curry) to a special menu highlighting the coconut spirit arrack (coconut, Gokani says, is one of the most versatile ingredients).

Gokani, who grew up in Mumbai, India, is an attorney, having graduated from the University of Cambridge and been in practice in London. But food and cooking have always been one of his passions (he worked in restaurants part-time for pleasure during his early years in practice), finally returning to India for a time to concentrate on cooking and the restaurant business. And after meeting and marrying Sunaina Sethi, a partner with her brothers in JKS Restaurants, which focuses on the flavors of Sri Lanka and south India, Gokani has turned his part-time devotion into a full-time career, with delicious results.