A Little Slice of Italy in South London

Finally after a long time of almost trying to eat at Zucca, we finally made it through its doors for an incredible night of food and drink.

Riverside Grazing at Strada

When we first came to London we used to eat in a few different Strada restaurants quite a bit, well we were new to the big smoke from a small old market town.

I did become a little addicted to their pizza’s over time, as they reminded me slightly of the ones in Argentina and it was really all I ate off their menu.

Pizza School @ Ponti's Italian Kitchen

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Ponti’s Italian Kitchen after we were invited to come along and celebrate Proscuitto Week with them.

The Meatball Shop

Even though I'm a big fan of meatballs in any guise, I just don’t eat enough of them. From the slightly cumin scented Moroccan to heavily spiced Indian to the herby Italian meatballs. I love them all. So why don’t I eat more of them.

So when I came across The Meatball Shop on my research for this trip, I set aside a night for these wondrous little balls of goodness.

New York Tales : John's Pizzeria

New Yorkers claim they have the best pizza or pie (as they call it) in the world. Well they have quite a long tradition of it, with a gentleman called Gennaro Lombardo opening the first Pizzeria in Little Italy in 1905.

We were tempted to sample the pizza’s at Lombardo’s, but for some reason we just never got round to it. As is.

As we were staying quite close to West Village, John’s Pizzeria’s name crept up when we asked the hotel staff where we could get some good pizza close by.

Little Delights @ da Polpo

After 3 weeks of traveling around rural China and eating a mammoth amount of noodle soups, we were in the mood for some food that was as far away from China as we could get.

It was almost a year ago since we first ate at Polpo, and having tried 2 of the 3 later incarnations of this ever so popular and cool mini chain of small eateries, I thought it was time to try the latest opening. da Polpo.

There is not much I can say about da Polpo that hasn’t already been said by every blogger in and around London. So all I will say is that it is bigger and has a slightly more faux warehouse look than the other sites. But still nice nonetheless.

But onto the food as that is all this is about. The concept of small plates is again flourishing here, but more emphasis is placed on pizzettas (small pizzas to the unknowing) and meatballs. I like.

So we ordered a couple of the pizzattas. A white anchovy and a pork and pepper one. Man had I missed pizza. I grew up as a kid disliking anchovies immensely, but my wife has got me addicted to them. Light and fishy these fresh buggers were. I just wished there were more of them on the little pizza.

The pork and pepper was jammed packed with wafers of thin slices of ham and jalapenos. Not sure how Italian the jalapeno is, but it was bloody good and added a slightly spicey note that my buds had gotten used to in Hunan.

We also ordered the cauliflower fontina gratin and a plate of spicy pork and fennel meatballs. Again this was needed to jolt us away from China.

I cannot remember when I last cooked cauliflower cheese, and this Italian version with its creamy fontina cheese has made me want to cook it again. The gratin needed a bit more time under the grill, but the creamy cheese and al dente cauliflower made up for that.

The meatballs were good as well with their heavy notes of fennel. Something else I haven’t had in an age as well. I really must widen my eating habits.

I like da Polpo, not just for the food, but because it is larger than the other 3 and you have more of a chance of getting a table without the obligatory 1 hour queue. Although that is always good when you have a bottle of white to see you through. 

Spuntino - Little Plate Heaven

I really wished I had eaten at Spuntino a lot earlier. Ie from day one. But I have this habit of letting a new restaurant flow for a couple of months before hitting its tables to sample the wares from the kitchen.

But as this group had two restaurants running at full flow very close by, it should have put my mind at rest, but it didn’t. I mean Marcus Waring’s new restaurant hasn’t received good reviews so far, and that is one place you’d expect to be at its best from day one.

The neo industrial look inside Spuntino adds to its charm, with its chipped exposed white tiles, it’s long dangly lights, the almost uncomfortable stools around the bar. The fact that the queue for seats is right behind you as you are eating, with the people in the queue staring into the back of your head willing you to eat faster and leave so they can sit down.

I like the place. I thought I had enough of small plates. This fad of sharing your food with your dining partners I thought I would not be able to do anymore.

But bang, wallop I am sucked in all over again. Damn if Spuntino didn’t knock me sideways with its coolness that made me want to love it, and hoping this food fashion doesn’t go out of style.

I didn’t even mind queuing up for 30 minutes or so, especially as we ordered a bottle of red and stood supping away jabbering on about love, life and general nonsense.

The menu in Spuntino is leaning rather heavily towards New York with plenty of sliders, mac n cheese and cheese grits on offer, that make you think you are dining somewhere on the East Side.

What to order. As we were pondering a cup of spiced popcorn was planted in front of us. I’m not a fan of popcorn, but the spiciness tantalised my taste buds, and kept my fingers delving into that cup for more.

I’d listened to a podcast recently where one of the presenters had a selection of sliders at his wedding. Nice idea and from what he said it all worked out well.

So we ordered a couple of sliders, the minced beef and bone marrow and the spiced mackerel.

Both were dainty as sliders should be. The mackerel I have to say was the least flavoursome of the two and overall over the night it was the dish we liked the least. The beef and marrow slider was truly how a burger should taste.

That marrowbone adds a divine taste to the burger that really surpasses all other burgers I’ve tasted in a long time. Shame these only come in little two bite portions. Well I am a greedy git.

The mac n cheese seemed to be very popular that night, as those black pans were being come thick and fast out of the kitchen.

The last time I had mac n cheese was in Cairo at my fave kushari joint. Every 5 or 6 times there I would venture off piste and have their version of mac n cheese. It was pretty naff as mac n cheese goes, put it was cheap, tasty and filling.

This version has to be the best I’ve ever tasted. The crispy topping had been under the grill for the most perfect of timings. It was so Moorish that even though my belly was fit to bursting I still couldn’t keep helping myself to the last scrapings out of the pan.

But the truffled egg on toast blew everything else out of the water. Damn it was good, and I mean so good that I really wanted to order another one. I love that heady scent of truffle oil, it instantly sends me back to the Italian countryside in autumn.

This is the work of a genius. I mean a slice of bread, hollow out a hole in the middle, pop in an egg yolk, add lots of cheese and a dash of truffle oil. In the oven and voila you have the dish of the year. A true work of gifted chef. Danm I’m envious.

This was one of the best eating experiences I’ve had in a long while, even though the quality of food I’ve been eating recently has been excellent, Spuntino somehow overall was far and away ahead of everyone else.

The only downside of the night was the fire alarm going off for at least 15 – 20 minutes, and we watched a guy pick bits of food out of his girlfriend’s teeth at the bar. Have people no shame.

Heaven @ The River Cafe

Some people can always say where they were when they heard a particular piece of news, or when a major even happened. Well on March 31^st 2004, my life changed forever. There was no major international incident, no national disaster to contend with.

It was just a simple cooked meal with the finest ingredients that Italy could offer in a trendy restaurant by the river in Hammersmith.

Up until that point fine food had never passed my lips. Years of travelling had taught me where to get good nourishing and cheap food, but fine food never came into the equation. Food with Spice had ruled my palette, as my travels up to that point had really only taken me to India, South East Asia and Central America. Heat I was used to. Perfectly cooked food with subtle seasoning I was not. It was enlightening.

What I ate that night I cannot remember, but we did have a great night, and our food lives changed forever after that experience.

We’d been back to the River Café on many an occasion, but not for the last few years. Which is a shame as I have such fond memories of the place. But my wages still seem to remain the same, whilst the cost of living has risen a lot. Plus it is not the cheapest place to eat on the planet, so now it is left to special occasions.

I’ve noticed that once in a while, especially during a slow period they will have a lunch time special of 2 courses for £22 or £28 with dessert. For the prices they charge normally off the a la carte menu, this is a steal. Although we still managed to spend over £100 on this trip. Wine, coffees etc. It all adds up in the end.

There was a fire a year or so ago, and a total refurb ensued. The end result is a very slick cool looking restaurant. They still have kept the same design of the open kitchen, which works so well. I like seeing people cooking my food, although sitting down you can only see the top half of the chefs, but they look busy. Maybe it is all an illusion and the clean cut looking people are just for show. The real work is being done by little children in the basement.

Even for a Thursday lunchtime the place was packed to the rafters. This is a very good sign, maybe other restaurants could learn from this. Lunchtime specials fill your restaurant up. It pays the bills. Take note.

The menu hasn’t really changed that much since Theo was the main man there. It’s still very peasanty Italian food, but what they do so well is treating the food with respect. Everything was and always has been spot on.

Our Primi’s were a plate of Agnoli with Veal, Rabbit and Parmesan Cheese, and the Spaghetti with crab. Both were fantastic, although portion control could have been relaxed a little. A good sign of always wanting more.

The mixture of rabbit and veal worked a treat and the pasta was so delicate, I’m sure you could have read a newspaper through it.

The Secondi’s of Oven Roasted Monkfish, Chickpeas and my Seared Calves Liver and Lentils were both really good, although I preferred my Calf’s liver and the spicy lentils. So good, so yummy. I have a thing about offal and it wins hands down everytime. We were both tempted by the lamb, but it came with cannelloni beans and neither of us were in a bean mood that afternoon.

The Lemon tart was tart and creamy as it should be. I’m not sure if they were Amalfi lemons, but they probably were. It was a nice end to a great meal.

I’m not sure how many times they do this lunchtime special, but if you visit their website once in a while it will have the details. I think this was available for a couple of months. It’s well worth taking an afternoon off work to come here.

Until next year River Café.

Polpetto - Upstairs at the French House

Number two in this trilogy of small dining restaurants like the original is a big success. I’ve deliberately made myself wait to eat at Polpetto. No idea why, as I am sure it hit the ground running very comfortably, and all flaws and mistakes had been ironed out in Polpo anyhows. But it is the way I am.

It is above the French House, which is a good place to wait with a drink, as unlike Polpo there is no bar to relax at whilst your eyes burns holes in the diners heads so they will hurry up. When your table is ready you are sent a text to come and eat. But with a good pub downstairs you do not need to wander far, as you’ve only 10 minutes from text to table.

The French House is an odd but enjoyable place full of Sohoites, pre and post theatregoers and general stragglers that give it such a nice vibe.

Polpetto is small. This is really my only criticism I have of the place. This in turn means the tables are a little too close together. Our dining neighbours were both in the midst of their own love life crises. Which was quite funny as both of them were flirting like mad with the waiters, and I mean flirting. I’m not sure if the waiters really wanted this extra attention, but they played along very well. Probably just for the large tips they may get at the end in one form or another.

The food at Polpetto is delicious. Highlights were the zucchini chips and the breaded fish with a homemade gribiche dipping sauce. Delish.

We munched our way through about 6 plates, and all were very yummy. Especially loved the creamy polenta and ox cheek, but it did need a tad more seasoning.

I loved the smallest wine glasses in the world. Definitely makes for drinking a bottle of wine slowly. Thankfully no rush from the staff to sling your hook once you’d finished eating.

I tried to return a few days later with a friend, but he was not keen on the wait. When it comes to queue or not to queue, he is a fan of the later. Shame, as he missed out on a great meal.

Can’t wait to finish the trilogy.

Trullo - Highbury's Finest

I made the reservation for Trullo about 6 weeks in advance. I’ve never been that organised in my life before, but sometimes you just have to plan ahead. I’ve already made a reservation for the River Café at the end of March, but that’s for my birthday and that’s different.

I’d been wanting to eat here for quite a while, but in some cases I feel it is best to let a restaurant run for a while, before charging in like a bull in a china shop, and criticising it for basic start up errors, which hopefully should iron themselves out over time. So over 8 months since its opening, I thought it was time to give it a whirl.

I had seen the interior of the restaurant from the outside many a time from the 19 bus, but once you are inside, it is surprisingly small but yet still spacious. It has a simple but kind of industrial look about it, with scaffolding planks masquerading as shelves, even a few books on them as well.

The menu is short and sweet and comes in several parts. Beginning with the antipasti, primi, then the mains from the grill or the oven, followed by the deserts and then the finale of cheeses.

I’ve never been keen on antipasti in restaurants, as the price outweighs the quantity of the food that you get. So I always give them a miss.

Tonight’s menu offered us a nice range of offerings, but there were more dishes we were not keen on than we were. Which is a shame, but wrong night I guess. There were a few offal dishes to keep us entertained, so all was well in the Highbury world of Italian restaurants.

So for starters we ordered the borlotti beans with grilled ox heart and the papperdelle with a beef shin ragu. Both were presented nicely, well I thought so. They were very rustic and simple in look, but who needs to be complicated. Both had Parmesan wisps grated over the top. Taste wise, my pasta was silky smooth and had a great feel to it, I just wish I could say the same about the ragu. It was lifeless and boring. The meat had been cooked to the desired tenderness, but it lacked any real flavour at all. Had they forgotten to season it, had they tasted it? Obviously not.

The same disappointment was met after tasting the borlotti beans with the ox heart. The beans were again lacking any real taste. Some of them were chalky and slightly undercooked. The ox heart was perfectly cooked, but again it did not taste of ox heart. It could have won the tasteless ox heart of the year award. A big shame. This did not leave us with high hopes for the mains.

The mains came and looked lovely. 10/10 for presentation for these guys. I had the Venetian calves liver with polenta and a rocket salad. For me, this made up for any shortcomings on the pasta dish. The liver was cooked spot on. I could not fault that at all. Perfect, perfect perfect. Excellent. The polenta had been griddled so was kind of crunchy on the outside, whilst still being creamy on the inside. It did need a smidgen of more seasoning, but the liver was still sending my senses into heaven that I didn’t mind. The rocket salad was as sharp as it should be, anymore and it would have been too much and been totally ruined.

The problem came with the 2^nd main. This was from the grill. The pork chop, potatoes and braised celery. On first appearance it looked great. Taste wise, the chop had bags of flavour and was still juicy. The problem was the potatoes. They were still fridge cold. Unbelievable. Had they forgotten to take them out in time, and just remembered whilst they were plating up and hoping we wouldn’t notice.

We called over the waitress and told her the tatties were cold. She had a most surprised look on her face. She took the dish away without a word, and then we waited. By the time the dish came back we’d more or less polished off my liver. But there was no word of apology from anyone. In fact, more or less after that we were ignored. I’m not sure why, I can only imagine it was because the staff hadn’t been trained how to apologise. It’s like some of the agents I use overseas, when all goes well, all is fine. When things fuck up, they really fuck up, as they have no idea how to handle it.

But for a restaurant that was charging £16.50 for a dish, you’d expect a) the tatties to be hot, b) you’d expect an apology. Period.

I have to say the dish that we got back, and it was a brand new dish was pretty damn good. The chop was as juicy and tender as the last one, the celery had a lovely crunch to them. Even the now warm tatties were nice.

The lack of an apology has left a bad taste with us. We were not expecting anything off the bill, and we never got it, but we expected a simple sorry. Nada.

Trullo does do very good food. Some highs (liver), some lows (ragu) and some schoolboy errors (cold potato’s). But it come across to me that the pricing and the bad service that it is really punching well above its weight here. But when you look around this part of North London, there really isn’t anything that can come close to the quality that it does turn out. But that doesn’t excuse bad service.

I’d expect that in Nando’s (although I’ve only ever had good service there), but not in a restaurant where you pay £40 + per person.

Good food, bad service. I won’t be going back unfortunately. 

Gutted.

Cook the Books : Made in Italy Food & Stories - Spaghetti al Crudo

I made this and took the photos way back in June last year, before I went on that trip. I just forgot it was there until recently, but as it is a great dish I though I would share it with you all.

Since returning from Colombia back in March 2010, I haven’t had the same passion for cooking that I once had. No idea where it had gone. But it went somewhere. Maybe the one dimensional cooking style of Colombia zapped it out of me. But slowly it is coming back, so maybe I will put more recipes on here. That’s the idea anyhows. But we’ll see.

I know I am a good cook. I’m a crap photographer who had a crap camera. Now I have a good camera, which took a beating over those 10 weeks. As I took over 4000 pictures. At least 3500 of them were of hotels and the like. All very dull. Now I just have to name them all for work. No idea when I will get around to that. (It’s been 6 months since I returned and I still haven’t got round to it)

So back to the recipe. This is a great dish for those summer months, when tomato’s are at their juiciest and most favourable, which is what Italian food is all about. The quality of the ingredients. It is worth for this one dish to buy the best of everything.

The below recipe is from Giorgio Locatatelli’s book: Made in Italy Food & Stories. A truly great coffee table book, with lot’s of great stories and pictures. Some of the recipes are not even worth trying unless you have an army of chef’s to hand. But it is full of practical advice and good tips which you can use in everyday Italian cooking.

The many times I have eaten at Locanda Locatelli I have enjoyed the food and the ambiance of the restaurant, although the bill’s have been some of the highest I have paid for food in London, and always left with a feeling that I wanted more. Especially for the price you pay. Over priced. Maybe. Good food. Definitely.

So anyhows the recipe in the book calls for

2 Tbsp Capers

4 Tbsp Pitted Black Olives

5 Finely Chopped Anchovy fillets

2 Chopped Best Quality Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Tomato Passata

400g Spaghetti

Bunch of Basil

5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

1. Put all the ingredients except the spaghetti, basil, ½ the olive oil and seasoning in to a pan.
2. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add salt and the pasta.
3. Whilst the pasta is cooking, put the sauté pan on top of the pasta pot, and let the steam gently warm those ingredients up a little.
4. When the pasta is cooked. Drain and reserve some of the cooking liquor.
5. Add the pasta to the sauté pan and mix through. Add some of the water to loosen if need be.
6. Add the rest of the oil and toss.
7. Season and then tear the bsil leaves. Add them and them toss again. Serve. Enjoy.

If you would like to buy the book you can here. Or sample some of Giorgio’s food here. But for sure try this recipe in the summer if you can. It’s worth it.

Spiazzo - An Italian Style Cafe

Trying to find a good dentist in this city can be a bit of a problem. I used to have a good one in Earl’s Court, right above Addi’s, but he did a runner and no one knew where he disappeared. His replacement just never did anything right. Poor girl.

Thankfully with my family connections in South America I now have a very good dentist. Only problem he is over 5000 miles away. Not good. Although with what I am paying for this treatment I could have flown over there and had it done for the same price.

I was recommended a dentist in the leafy northern suburb of Crouch End. Oh that lovely village beyond Finsbury Park, which seems a world away from most of London, and the inhabitants, know it as well. Sometimes their smugness drives me insane. But then again I’d probably be the same as well if I lived there or somewhere similar.

After spending an hour mid afternoon getting my teeth prodded and tinkered with they were feeling a little sore. Plus I was advised to eat soft foods for a day or two. Damn, no chicken wings for me for a while then.

But I was hungry and in need of food. Luckily on the corner by the well-ordered bus stop is Spiazzo. A self styled Italian deli cum brassiere.

Its menu is typically Italian with all the big boys in tow. I’d eaten there before so I knew what type of food I was gonna get. It’s not as if the food is bad, it’s just not that good. But for a posh café it isn’t bad.

Obeying my dentist, I ordered a cheese omelette and in true café style it came with chips.

It wasn’t the worst omelette in the world I had ever eaten. It kinda reminded me of my dad’s ones that he used to cook on a Saturday night. It even had the same cubes of slightly un-melted cheese inside as well. The chips were thin, soft and a tad greasy. Normal café fare. But somehow it hit a cord and I enjoyed it, but I was bloody hungry.

Crouch End has quite a few cafes on the Broadway, some are good and some are not so good. Spiazzo is probably one of the best of the bunch, but it does try to be something it really isn’t. 

Crushed Tuscan Bean Soup

With this cold weather settling in for the long term. I really have to start forgetting about those light summer dishes and concentrate on hearty soups and stews to warm the bones and soul in the coming months.

I am a lover of pulses in a major way. T’was probably the reason I could of eaten Colombian frijoles on a daily basis, and very nearly did.

I cannot remember where I got this recipe form, maybe from some Italian cookbook or a restaurant somewhere. Who knows. I’ve never written this one down, so that is why I think maybe someone told it to me.

Anyhows this is my ideal soup, it’s thick and best served warm. Not hot, but warm. Too much heat will kill of the wonderful taste of the beans, and warm it is comforting.

The recipe is quite simple. 

Dried Cannellini beans (soaked for at least 10 hours). No exact measurements but you know how much you normally eat

A small bunch of sage

2 garlic cloves

Large handful of parsley leaves

Salt n pepper

Virgin olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil

1. Cook the beans with the sage until soft. Skim the scum off the surface as it simmers away
2. Drain the beans, but save the cooking liquor
3. Crush the garlic into a purée with salt. Finely chop the parsley
4. Heat a pan and add a generous amount of olive oil. Add the garlic. When you can smell it and it has changed colour a little. Add the parsley and stir together
5. Add the beans and mix well
6. After a few minutes add some of the cooking liquor. Remember this is a thick soup not a thin one. So err on the side of caution. Cook for a few minutes
7. Once the beans start to break up a bit and release their milky goodness, you can begin to crush them with a ladle or in my case a potato masher. Not to hard as you don’t want a purée
8. Turn off the heat and season generously with salt and pepper. Pour in some of the virgin olive oil
9. Ladle into bowls and pour on some of the extra virgin olive oil to give the soup some pepperyness
10.  Serve with some toasted sourdough bread. Enjoy