Italian
Padella Shoreditch, is the perfect place for some al fresco pasta thanks to its 26-cover terrace – it’s heated and covered in the rain and uncovered in the sunshine (the restaurant’s glass barriers are also retractable to really open up the space) so it works whatever the weather decides to do. The menu is packed with all the Padella classics including courgette fritti, pici cacio e pepe, pappardelle with 8-hour beef shin ragu, and tiramisu.
What was Jim’s Cafe has been transformed into Italian joint Leo’s by the team behind Juliet’s Quality Foods and chef Giuseppe Belvedere (ex-P.Franco and Bright). Jim’s was known for its classic interiors and the Leo’s crew have kept the old-school look with mid-century furniture and retro accents in the front and white tablecloths and dark wood in the back, proper trattoria vibes. You can pop in for an espresso but you’ll want to stay for the rabbit agnolotti, mussel cream & bottarga spaghetti, grilled lamb saddle and walnut ice cream.
If you’re looking for a big meal with a not-so-big price tag, make a beeline for Sapori. It’s an Italian-British cafe, meaning you can get everything from fry-ups and classic sandwiches to prawn tagliatelle and risotto of the day, all served in greasy spoon-sized portions. It may not be a looker but its a reliable spot to have up your sleeve in Westminster – and there are cannoli on the counter too.
GIACCO'S
Named after owner Leonardo Leoncini’s grandpa, Giacco’s leans into his Italian heritage with wines, charcuterie and cheese from small producers in Italy on the menu, which are joined by filled focaccia and fresh pasta. Running as a cafe and bottle shop during the day, you can pop into Giacco’s for some Terrone & Co coffee; salads; Leo’s take on the Florentine classic schiacciata ripiena, aka stuffed focaccia; Italian charcuterie and cheese; and wines to take away. Come evening, small plates and fresh pasta dishes like cudo di pesce, pappardelle al ragu bianco, and pici cacio e pepe hit the menu, alongside a low-intervention wine list featuring bottles from suppliers like Tutto Wines, Les Caves De Pyrene, Vine Trai, Ancestral Wines and Gergovie Wines.
Jacuzzi
It was only a matter of time before the Big Mamma crew headed west and naturally their first restaurant over that side of town is their most luxurious one yet. Like Gloria, Circolo Popolare and Ave Mario, Jacuzzi in Kensington is massively maximalist and OTT. The four-floor, 4000 sq ft, 170-cover space features a gigantic lemon tree, a Sicilian mezzanine with a retractable roof, a green boudoir, and glitter ball disco toilets in the basement. Of course the food is just as extra as the decor with the menu featuring dishes like Culatello di Zibello with gnocchi fritti; burrata with fresh seasonal truffle; pizzette topped with Italian caviar; lobster risotto with half lobster, clams, red gurnard & cuttlefish; truffle pasta for two with fresh black truffle, truffle cream & parmigiano foam, served in a 4kg wheel of pecorino; and chocolate fondue for two with Valrhona dark chocolate & homemade churros.
Fiume is right on the bank of the river Thames (‘fiume’ = river in Italian), with views of both the water and Battersea Power Station, and was one of the first new launches at Circus West Village when it first emerged. Fiume serves up a menu of traditional Mediterranean dishes – expect the likes of burrata and calamari to start followed by various pizzas and pasta dishes. The real USP here is the location and the sights, grab a seat on the terrace to take it all in.
Ciao Bella is a traditional Italian restaurant in the heart of Bloomsbury, the kind of place where the walls are covered with photos of Sophia Loren, there’s someone playing the piano, the portions are big, and everyone there seems to be celebrating something. The menu of eternal classics is a safe bet – pizza, pasta, gelato; what’s not to like? And so you have the best possible experience, you’ve gotta sit on the terrace for some of the finest people-watching in London.
Inside the Middle Eight hotel in Covent Garden, Sycamore Vino Cucina is an all-day restaurant and bar inspired by northern Italian cuisine. Think bomboloni and fresh-baked bread for breakfast, hand-rolled pasta for lunch and pit-grilled meats for dinner, with some highlights including oxtail tortellini with fava beans & truffle oil; burrata served with wild garlic, orange & pine nuts; chianti-braised beef ragu reginette pasta with parmesan; and slow roast pork rib with soft corn polenta & kale. Drinks-wise, expect a selection of wines from the northern regions of Piedmont, Lombardia and Tuscany, as well as signature negronis and Italian draft beers.
Just off the end of Columbia Road is where you’ll find some of the best southern Italian food in one of the most romantic restaurants in town. Campania & Jones wins you over immediately with its beautifully rustic decor and convivial atmosphere, and then it makes you fall in love with it as the food comes out – plump gnudi with sage butter, bowls of homemade pappardelle and tortelli, rich fish stew, and the best tiramisu in London. Simple, flavourful cooking, generous portions just like nonna would dish up, and a gorge setting, you really can’t ask for much more.
Having worked at Locanda Locatelli and opened Bancone, Louis Korovilas certainly knows a thing or two about pasta and he’s showing it off at his new spot Noci (owned by the peeps behind Tavolino) in Islington. The menu takes inspo from Louis’ travels across Italy and the country’s regional specialties, starting with a short selection of small plates including fluffy foccacia with datterini tomato and caramelised onion, saffron & nduja arancini, and bresaola with star anise-dressed celeriac. Pasta is the star of the show though and there’s plenty of variety from veal & pork Genovese ragu with paccheri to wild mushroom silk handkerchiefs with confit egg yolk. Not only is the food at Noci genuinely great, it’s reasonably priced too – the house peach spritz is a fiver, negronis are six quid and the pasta plates are affordable, (they even offer ziti with pesto, tomato or parmesan & butter sauce for £7.50).
Theo Randall at The Intercontinental
Top chef Theo Randall has been at The InterContinental Park Lane since it opened in 2006, having spent the majority of his career at The River Cafe with the legendary Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray MBE, as well as a stint at The Berkeley, California. Theo’s cooking is deeply rooted in rustic Italian food and has been given numerous nods from notable critics. The pappardelle con ragú di manzo, fresh pasta with slow cooked beef in Chianti and San Marzano tomatoes, is exceptional, as is the risotto di mare with clams, seabass, mussels, prawns, tomatoes, chilli and parsley. When Italian food is this impressive it’s a meal you will be talking about for a while.
He changed the restaurant game with Polpo (distressed interiors, small plates, no ressies) and almost a year after leaving the group he co-founded, Russell Norman returned with the Tuscan-inspired Trattoria Brutto. The name comes from the Italian saying ‘brutto ma buono’, which translates to ‘ugly but good’ – so, the food is hearty and honest. He’s got Oliver Diver (who started out at Polpo in Soho before working at Wild Honey, Chiltern Firehouse and Allegra) heading up the kitchen and the menu includes dishes like panzanella, vitello tonnato, pappardelle with wild boar, lamb chops al cartoccio, beef stew, rosemary flatbread with broad bean puree, and chicken liver toasts. You won’t want to miss the £5 negronis and be sure to save room for tiramisu.
Named after the famous Italian salt cod dish, Baccala is the creation of four friends; sommelier Fabio de Nicola (previously of Hovarda, Oblix & Zuma Istanbul), head chef Moreno Polverini (previously at Four Seasons Hotel Group at Park Lane in London), Fabio’s designer wife Ilanit Ovadya, and Elif Taner Polverini, who is married to Moreno. It’s an intimate and charming restaurant of 30 covers, with an extra 20 in their downstairs space, counter seating at the open kitchen so you can see the chefs in action, and 14 seats outside for alfresco goals. The premise is simple, Italian seafood dishes made with love using the finest locally sourced produce. Baccala’s signature dishes include roasted octopus with colonnata lard on marinated bell peppers, olives & basil; roasted aubergine salad with walnuts & Vesuvian pink tomato; the mezze maniche with mussels, courgette flower & black cuttlefish; and the salted cod with sautéed escarole & yellow datterino.
Manteca in Shoreditch is the third iteration of a restaurant that started at 10 Heddon Street before moving to Soho, and now finally settling here in on Curtain Road. Of all these, the new place is the one that really feels like their home. If you’ve been to Manteca before and loved it then you will definitely be a fan of the Shoreditch restaurant. All the elements are there – the in-house charcuterie, the nose-to-tail menu, and the fresh pasta – and now it’s all wrapped up in a beautiful new space and a bold menu that combines some of their classic dishes with several new ones. Don’t miss the incredible mortadella, made fresh in house; the crisp, rich pig head fritti; the clam flatbread; the n’duja mussels; and the tonnarelli with a brown crab cacio e pepe sauce.
Think Amalfi coast but down a Clapham backstreet. Sorella is an Italian neighbourhood joint serving up traditional and seasonal food that hones in on all that owner Robin Gill loves about the Italian attitude to cooking and eating. And just like the rest of Robin’s restaurants (Bermondsey Larder, Darby’s and Rye by the Water), the menu is full of some stand-out dishes including the likes of smoked duck and black garlic arancini; Dexter beef bavette, borlotti beans and salsa verde; and apricot & frangipane tart with milk gelato. These guys really know their stuff.
Artusi is one of those great neighbourhood joints that either makes you happy that you’re local or jealous if you’re not. The regularly changing menu always features simple but perfectly executed Italian dishes like ‘nduja with ricotta & monks beard, chicken leg with puntarelle & parmesan aioli, gurnard with samphire & tomato, and pastas made fresh that day. Start with a negroni and follow with a glass (or several) from the Italian wine list and you’ve got a very good time on your hands.
Massive Italian food hall Eataly is stocked with over 5000 products spanning pasta, cheese and cured meats to gelato and olive oil, plus a zero-waste refill station and London’s largest Italian wine cellar. As well as the market and retail areas, Eataly is home to a number of dining counters, including Roman-style pizza at Pizza alla Pala, fresh pasta at the Pasta Fresca Bar, focaccia and salads at Made in Eataly, coffee and pastries at the Gran Caffè. There’s also the La Terrazza di Eataly al fresco restaurant, which serves up Italian classics like tuna crudo, burrata, cacio e pepe, ricotta & spinach ravioli and Torino-style pizzas alongside spritzes from Aperol.
Similar to the Mayfair flagship, Cecconi’s Shoreditch serves up the same Italian faves but with a more relaxed vibe… it is East London after all. The restaurant very much looks the part with a black and white tiled floor, marble tables and artwork-covered walls. It’s a menu full of classics done right with dishes like tuna tartare, veal milanese, wood-fired pizza and lobster spaghetti, with all of the pastas also coming in sharing sized portions as well as individal bowls. The Shoreditch outpost of Cecconi’s is an instant hit – it’s classy but not stuffy, it’s got a buzzy atmosphere and the service is totally on point, just as you’d expect from a Soho House operation.
