Mayfair, Italian Restaurant Guide

This Mount Street fixture proves that you can still find “solid Italian home-style food” in the heart of Mayfair – all the favourites including pizza, pasta and tiramisu. In proper Italian style, there’s a “great atmosphere”, too.

2018 Review: “Maybe I’m just not the target audience, but that still doesn’t justify the bill!” – this eurotrashy Mayfair scene (forced to drop the [C]‘ipriani’ from its name in a lawsuit a few years ago) continues to live down to the low expectations formed by former surveys: “service is slow and condescending”, and “prices are outrageous for ordinary dishes” (think of a number, then double it).

“Up-market (loud) Italian” in a prime Mayfair location with swish styling and and a large menu incorporating relatively affordable pizzas as well as more substantial classic dishes. The experience is generally well-rated but, valuewise, prices can seem to verge on the “stratospheric” for what is delivered.

Originally set to open in summer 2020, this Tuscany-via-Dubai import – part of an international group – set a new record for rent on its new Mayfair home: the 11,000 square foot, two-floor site vacated by Nobu Berkeley (RIP) with 220 covers. Finally open now from September 2021, it’s one of a number of very high-end Italians to have opened in Mayfair in recent years: here, with produce and wine from the 700-acre Tuscan estate of the same name.

Angela Hartnett’s popular Mayfair HQ put in an impressively steady performance in this year’s survey, thanks to its “beautifully prepared and presented” cuisine – which comes at “relatively reasonable prices” for such a swanky address. Other pluspoints include very well-pitched service, and surroundings that, if low key, are very “calm and attractive”. (Note – although the website says the menu ‘is a reflection of Angela’s upbringing cooking alongside her Italian grandmother and aunts’, the actual dishes – though they do often nod to Italy – are actually in a fairly mainstream modern European mould).

Navigate through the pan-Asian section of Russian restaurateur Arkady Novikov’s ultra-luxe Mayfair scene, and you find an elegant if slightly incongruous classic Italian dining room at the rear. Key themes that emerge in survey feedback: it’s notably “overpriced”; the food’s not bad; and for a business encounter, it’s worth considering.

“A table at the bar is always fun” at the original Cecconi’s – a sophisticated Italian brasserie, tucked away off Bond Street, which in particular is brunch central – “a comfortable place to have your coffee, eggs and Sunday Times… and to people-watch”. As ever here, though, it can all seem too pricey: a case of “style over substance”, or somewhere that’s “fine… but just fine”. And then there’s the question of judging the less commented-on brand extensions embarked on by owners Soho House. None of them inspire a huge volume of feedback but it’s all good, be it for the outlet at the City’s Ned Hotel, the “always enjoyable” neighbourhood spot in Shoreditch, or the Soho pizzeria (“always a great buzz”).

“A great, traditional Italian with real style”, whose name references its location, amongst London’s most famous tailors, and whose “well-spaced tables” help make it a “discreet and useful Mayfair location” for business lunches hosted by those wearing the bespoke products of its neighbours. Owned by D&D London, the kitchen is run by ex-Anima chef Francesco Mazzei, and it has put in a very solid performance of late. “I go when I want a special treat – I don’t eat meat, but I’ll always find a beautiful and flavourful vegetable-based dish or risotto, and the fish is excellent.” There’s a strong Italian wine list, where – for example – “you can usually find a Marche or Umbrian bottle of good vintage that doesn’t appear on anyone else’s list”.

It took 120 years for the famous Milan original of the same name to spawn this first international spin-off, which opened in Mayfair (on the site of Camillo Benso) in September 2020. They have spent a packet on its very classic looks, which creates a “quiet but not sombre” atmosphere; and for a traditional Italian experience (down to the heart-flutter when the bill arrives) some early reports are high on the “wow!” scale. Initial ratings are tempered, though, by the odd reporter who feels a visit was “fun but not memorable”.