As partner and U.K. head at global talent, entertainment, sports and advisory company United Talent Agency (UTA), Darnell Strom has an ever-expanding remit. The executive, who has experience in politics, including past work with Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and represents such clients as Malala Yousafzai and Michaela Coel, has overseen UTA’s growth in London and beyond, including in the sports, comedy and creators spaces.
But at SXSW London this week, he showed his foodie side, moderating a panel with chefs and restaurateurs entitled “Talking Taste” that explores how the conversation around hospitality and food is evolving. Sharing their insights on stage were Jeremy King of Jeremy King Restaurants, Tommi Miers, the 2005 winner of MasterChef and founder of Wahaca, and Oisín Rogers, the co-founder of The Devonshire in London.
In between his busy schedule, Strom told THR about how food culture fits into the broader cultural, media and branding space.
Can you tell us how the idea for this panel came together and how it fits into the broader SXSW London spirit?
I moved here to London a year ago from L.A., and one of the best ways to understand the spirit of a city is through food, through restaurants and through culture. Restaurants have always been at the center of culture. I have also always had a fascination with the hospitality business, being an agent and being in the representation business.
Can you tell me more about this fascination and how it ties into your work?
I don’t think there’s a better industry than the hospitality industry to learn from and to get an education on how to work with people, how to make people feel valuable, how to learn about service. There is a connection to what we do, and there are a lot of transferable skills that come out of hospitality that apply to a lot of people’s businesses.
The other piece is that when you think about our business and where it happens, it’s usually at restaurants. It’s about booking the right table in the right restaurant to project the right energy. So, having those relationships in the hospitality business is actually really helpful for our business. And then the third thing is that I just love food.
You are starting to make me hungry just talking about it! Can you explain how the three panelists you shared the SXSW London stage with had different voices and thoughts they could share?
Jeremy King is just a legend of the restaurant business in London. I think he is really the godfather of what the modern restaurant business is here. And he is known for his curation of people at his restaurants, everyone from Elton John and Princess Diana – the most famous people across culture – would always go to his restaurants to be seen and to meet up with their friends and representatives and teams. So Jeremy’s a legend.
Oisín Rogers has The Devonshire, which arguably is the most famous pub in the world now. He also curates a private room that has music, where on any given day you’ll see an Ed Sheeran or someone else just popping up and start playing or a band that you’ve never heard of that’s incredible – because of his love for music.
And then there is Tommi…
Tommi Miers, who started the Wahaca restaurants and won MasterChef, is a cookbook author and journalist, and all of it. She’s actually a client of Curtis Brown, which is one of the companies that UTA owns. And she’s a big advocate for the importance of food sustainability and school food, so she brought some of the heart and soul of the importance of food quality.
And from a personality perspective, they’re all very different. Jeremy is this quintessential British gentleman. Oisín is the gregarious Irish pub owner. And Tommi is kind of in between all of it. So it was a nice balance and a good conversation.
Do UTA clients ever think about moving into food?
Yeah, we represent Theo James, who’s opened a [Roman comfort food] restaurant in North London, Lupa. And he is about to open his second restaurant, so he’s gotten into the food business, and there are other clients of ours who have been investors in it. There is also the other part of them building their own businesses, such as maybe launching a spirit or a drink brand, or some food product that they’re into. There is a lot of connectivity between the food world and the entertainment world.
Anything else you would like to highlight about either SXSW London or UTA’s work in general?
This is my first SXSW London. I’ve been to the one in Austin many times, and so it’s been great to see how it’s taken over Shoreditch in East London for this really interesting connection between entertainment, media and technology, and bringing together the various groups of people who come here. It’s nice to be able to experience that.
And for us from a business perspective, we’re about to launch into a very, very busy next few weeks with clients such as Jon Batiste coming into town doing a residency at Koko and Bad Bunny taking over Tottenham Stadium for a couple of big shows. It’s an exciting time in London, and I feel like SXSW almost kicks off the summer event season here in London.
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