Restaurateur Martin Kuczmarski is launching two new retro-inspired Italian venues in quick succession – Martino’s in Sloane Square, Chelsea and Dover Street Counter, a few doors down from his flagship off Piccadilly.
In both cases Martin has followed the low-profile but high-impact process that proved such a success last year with Dover Street, one of the hit openings of 2024 which attracted an immediate following despite a complete absence of advance PR pumpery.
Martino’s occupies a prominent former Hugo Boss site opposite Sloane Square tube station, and its transformation into a glamorous take on a La Dolce Vita-era trattoria was successfully kept secret from the London fooderati until its sudden opening this week. Open every day for breakfast from 8am (9am at the weekend) until late (12.30am, 11.30pm Sundays), its menu takes in pasta dishes from £15-£30, pizzas from £17 and mains from £24-£50.
Dover Street Counter, which opens next week, will operate as a more casual alternative to Dover Street, with a menu of ‘feel-good food and drink’ served at the counter, ranging from sandwiches and pasta to cocktails. It will open from midday to midnight, with a late licence to 2am from Thursday to Saturday (closed on Sunday).
Dover Street is highly rated across the board in the new 2026 Harden’s guide, winning a maximum score of 5/5 for its ambience, summed up as “an incredible scene” with a “romantic vibe”.
Martin, for ten years COO of Soho House, was born in Warsaw to Polish and Italian parents – and has always laboured under a name few people outside Poland can spell or pronounce. Hence the decision to call his company Difficult Name; ‘Martino’s’ is another rejoinder.
