Holborn, Italian Restaurant Guide

The timing of its debut, during Covid 19, couldn’t have been harder for this Covent Garden three-year-old, and it has yet to attract a huge volume of feedback or a settled view from diners. One fan says “you get a twist on Italian cooking, and boy do they get it right” in a “superb, light and airy space that’s ideal for a business meal”. To a critic it’s “bizarre eating in what feels like, and actually is, a hotel lobby, with some dishes very clumsily seasoned”.

“A very sophisticated Italian restaurant” in Covent Garden that combines “gorgeous” cooking and “excellent wines” with “superb” service and an “elegant” interior. Just one catch, and you can probably guess what it is… it’s no bargain (“the crab ravioli at £31 had only 6 ravioli on the plate…”). Top Top – “good value for the pre-theatre menu”.

“Reliably good Italian food at fair prices” and particularly “switched-on service” won revitalised support this year for Angela Hartnett’s “very serviceable” mini-chain, which is generally a “very safe choice”, and – at its best – “memorable” in the level of “very confident” cooking it can achieve. Even fans, though, concede the “atmosphere can be a bit low key”, in particular at the “rather gloomy” WC2 branch (and the best reports are at St James’s).

“Reliably good Italian food at fair prices” and particularly “switched-on service” won revitalised support this year for Angela Hartnett’s “very serviceable” mini-chain, which is generally a “very safe choice”, and – at its best – “memorable” in the level of “very confident” cooking it can achieve. Even fans, though, concede the “atmosphere can be a bit low key”, in particular at the “rather gloomy” WC2 branch (and the best reports are at St James’s).

“You could be in Italy” at this “authentic” old-school trattoria that has provided four decades of its “great atmosphere” in Bloomsbury – “it’s like being at home but with no washing up”. “Everyone looks like they are enjoying themselves” – as Boris Johnson did in his days as Mayor of London, when he shared chips and house red here with his squeeze-du-jour, Jennifer Arcuri.

Russell Norman’s skillful love letter to Florentine trattorias is “hard to fault for a classic Italian” and, in particular, its “buzzy” (“if noisy” and “crowded”) “glamourous” style is a brilliant escape from the grey streets of Clerkenwell (near Smithfield Market). The “Negronis are lethal” and the “heavy-hitting, rustic fodder” is “simply done, but top quality”. An archetypal ‘Bistecca alla Fiorentina’ (T-bone steak) is a central menu feature, as are lesser-known treats such as “the moreish coccoli (or ‘cuddles’) of deep-fried dough that you stuff with soft cheese and prosciutto”. For all its virtues, though, Russell is a darling of the foodie media, so the place receives regular “hype”, and the only weaker reviews come from those expecting more culinary fireworks, given that “the food is good, but not great”.

Cafe by day, wine bar by night, all "inspired by the cafés found along the winding streets of Puglia’s picturesque city, Lecce".