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Born and bred in Barbados, it should come as no surprise that David Carter has always been obsessed with fire. 'In Barbados, the average temperature is probably 28 degrees all year,' he explains. 'I never owned a jumper until I left! Barbecues are constant, so I grew up around that sort of food, and I think fire has really influenced my food ever since.'
London, too, has developed an obsession with fire cooking - an obsession that Carter has helped to drive. As the restaurateur behind Smokestak, Manteca, AGORA and OMA, his fingerprints are all over four of London's most influential, new-age restaurants. Ask your average Londoner where they're desperate to eat, and they're likely to list at least one of Carter's restaurants, such is their influence on London's restaurant zeitgeist.
Carter's restaurant career may look like front-to-back success from the outside, but it didn't come without its fair share of hardship. Whilst working as GM of ROKA in London, Carter was also trying to launch other businesses, like Smokestak, and LOAF - a cafe on Tottenham Court Road - grinding to launch them alongside his day job. In the case of Smokestak, that often meant spending his days off smoking briskets throughout the night. ‘We had this offset smoker to smoke the meat,' he explains, 'and you have to refuel those every half an hour, so you’re working through the night just to keep it going.' It was a slog, and he nearly quit multiple times, but Smokestak slowly gathered momentum, and Carter's restaurant career took off.
With Smokestak and Manteca both runaway success stories, Carter launched a Greek island-inspired duo in early 2024 - OMA and AGORA. The latter of which was awarded the SquareMeal London Restaurant of the Year Award in 2025, cementing Carter's reputation as one of London's most talented restauranteurs.