Passo is a new opening from the team behind The Rum Kitchen and Foley’s and, unlike those two, it is absolutely humungous. Situated in the new White Collar Factory building just off Old Street roundabout, it’s a shiny, new, seriously big space but has been divided up loosely into a few sections at least, with a bar and high tables in the entrance section; a main dining room next door; and a long bar in front of the (very) open kitchen. The open kitchen adds a great focal point to the room and there is a constant performance of chefs plating up and the flames of the copper-plated pizza oven glowing in the background.
The food is a departure for the group too. This time it’s Italian but via LA, so expect it to be a bit more on the modern side than spag bol and checked tablecloths. It’s open all the way from 7am up until midnight, so they’re covering all bases in terms of audience. We went along for dinner and had a good selection of highlights from the menu beginning with, as all good Italian meals should, a plate of hams, salamis and a whole fresh chunk of burrata to get stuck in to.
[URIS id=98165]Pizza was next, a bianco version with fresh truffle and buffalo mozzarella, and another with artichoke and sun dried tomato. Although there are main meat and fish dishes on the menu, we were all about the carb loading, so followed with pasta, polishing off the ravioli with tomato and langoustine and the gnocchi with four cheeses and walnuts. As you can imagine, dessert was a struggle after all that but we can defo recommend the panettone French toast with pistachio ice cream.
Passo is a fun place, as much about the vibes as it is about the food and we think it’s struck a good balance between the two. You could as much pop in here for breakfast as you could for a late night dinner and drinks so we think it will do well in this part of town.
80 City Road, London, EC1Y 2AS
passorestaurant.com