Shoreditch, Mediterranean - Restaurant Guide

“Sit at the kitchen counter and watch small plates of mostly Italian influence being expertly prepared for the best take on this consistently good venue” (which has no more than 30-35 seats in total). Jon Lawson will celebrate his tenth year here in 2026 and has maintained impressive standards of seasonal Italian-inspired small plates all the while. It helps that the venue has “a nice casual-and-hip but also romantic vibe too”.

Brunch in particular is “varied and delicious” at this vibey group: launched a decade ago as a pop-up in an ex-greasy spoon in Balham and progressing via supper clubs to six permanent sites open till late. “Great flatbreads with the mezze” and “the beautiful treatment of vegetables” are typical of the “simple and very good” Eastern Mediterranean dishes, wines and cocktails inspired by co-founder Tas Gaitanos’s Cretan/Cypriot heritage (the name honours owner Alex Large’s kid brother). Summer 2025’s Canary Wharf opening was the biggest yet, with an 80-seater outdoor terrace and a new dedicated ‘skewers’ menu.

Opened too late for our survey in summer 2025 on the quirky former site of Leroy in Shoreditch, this new venture from two members of the old Leroy team – Alex Grant and chef Simon Shand – takes its name, cuisine and some of its wines from the historical Duchy of Savoy, where France meets Italy. In an enthusiastic June 2025 review, Grace Dent of the Guardian praised it as a “perfect-of-its-ilk” example of small plates dining, in a “no-frills decor, bare-brick walls” room that was “absolutely heaving”.