All tagged Italian food

Upstairs at Grace + James

A supermodel-gorgeous, rotund slab of porchetta with golden crunchy crackling around fatty, succulent belly and lean loin in equal measure, stuffed, rolled and slow roasted. It’s sweet and savoury flavours amplified by the fresh zing of gremolata loaded with peppery parsley, garlic, lemon and grassy olive oil… READ MORE

Laghi's

I’ve no plate envy whatsoever, with my herb flecked pappardelle, topped with a white ragú of slow braised shreds of lamb. It’s surprisingly light and fresh, allowing the sweetness of the lamb to rightly do all the hard work, although there’s a third too much pasta than the sauce requires… READ MORE

Campania and Jones

Across the table we’re split 3:3 with a large single raviolo filled with squash puree, featuring a slab of roasted squash, an appropriate puddle of butter and a decent layer of Parmesan. My three plump balls of pillowy, sweet ricotta have a heavy spike of nutmeg but not quite enough sage butter… READ MORE

The River Café

Generous slabs of seared, dissolve-in-the mouth meat, with salty crunch from crisp fried rashers of pancetta, sitting on top of a stew of slow cooked tender broad beans in their skins, artichoke petals and greens, with freshness from lemon and sage. It’s a dish that’s pure spring… READ MORE

Manteca

And then those two ordinarily scene stealing plates of pasta find themselves outshone by tonnarelli, brown crab, cacio e pepe with the rich, sweetness of brown crab proving to be the dream date for the creamy, salty and peppery spiciness of cacio e pepe… READ MORE

Ember Yard

Baby courgettes are perfectly al dente, coated in a tempura batter but the real magic lies in the flowers, full of soft, piquant and lemony Monte Enebro goats cheese with a generous drizzle of blossom honey amplifying the joy. Ordering two of these is undoubtedly one of the best decisions I’ve made all year… READ MORE

Franzina Trattoria

The girls have both gone for the tagliatelle ammuttunata—predominantly baby aubergines and a tomato sauce. They are big plates of pasta and Katrina throws the towel in at the halfway point. Whilst it’s got one foot firmly in the Norma camp, I’m not getting any of the promised smokiness, nor mint in the mix… READ MORE

San Carlo

San Carlo’s most famous pasta dish came beautifully presented – the thin ribboned pasta shaped like the tail of a lobster and bejeweled with peas. As for the flavour… I’m struggling to remember when I was so underwhelmed by a dish… READ MORE