THE FLAVOURS OF ITALY

29 Mar , 2017 Italian

Louisa Walters and Kate Posener do the rounds of their favourite places for pizza and pasta

 

BERNARDI’S

Cool, sophisticated but relaxed modern Italian all-day brasserie Bernardi’s in Portman Village is our choice when we are out and about in central London. The stand out-dish for us here is the rich fettuccine with Paris Brown mushrooms and black truffle.

RULLO’S PIZZERIA

Rullo’s Pizzeria in Camden is the second venture from Amie and Salvatore following on from their very successful Italian bistro in Kensal Rise, simply called Rullo’s. Here you will find a traditional authentic wood-fired pizza oven brought all the way from Naples and we find it hard to resist the vegetarian crusted ricotta pizza with aubergine, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, mozzarella and fresh basil. For pasta lovers we recommend the Trofie pasta with pesto, pine nuts and green beans.

ANTONIO’S

Hidden away from the hustle and bustle of Upper Street in Islington, family owned and family friendly Antonio’s offers specialities from Calabria. There is an antipasti bar upstairs but we prefer to sit downstairs and gorge on cannelloni with ricotta, spinach and parmesan baked in a tomato sauce.

ORSO

In the heart of Covent Garden we love simple and authentic Orso, sister restaurant to Joe Allen and linked to it via a subterranean passage. Orso has been serving up modern seasonal Milanese fare since 1985 and our dish of choice here is the delicious Pizza di Capra with goats cheese, spinach and black olives.

AMARETTO

With branches in Hendon, Edgware and Golders Green, Amaretto is well-placed when we want a local meal. Head chef and owner Flo learnt his trade in southern Italy and has brought a true taste of his home country to north London. Sometimes we like to keep things really simple so we go for Spaghetti Zingara with just olive oil, garlic and chili. We also love the Etna pizza with mozzarella cheese, tomato, aubergines, black olives, onions and chilli topped with an egg.

KISS KISS

Bright and spacious and decked out in sunny yellow and vibrant blue, we always feel as though we are on holiday when we go to Kiss Kiss in Elstree. They do both pizza and pasta with black truffle and as this is one of our favourite flavours we tend to pop in whenever we can!

SEVEN

Seven is a New York-style little gem in Harrow, and in the short time it’s been there is has made a real impression. The sourdough pizza base is made on site every day using just flour salt and water and it makes the pizzas crispy and chewy at the same time. We love the ‘Green One’ with courgette, asparagus and spinach. We also love the Nutella pizza doughnut for dessert!

VICO

Situated right on Cambridge Circus, Vico is the perfect pitstop pre- and post- theatre. We order the fettuccine with finferli mushrooms & parmesan and the basil pesto spaghetti with pine nuts and share them between us with a glass of wine to wash it down. It’s hard to resist the in-house gelateria on the way out (be warned!).

MIMMO LA BUFALA

A Hampstead favourite, Mimmo la Bufala is a classic Italian restaurant with a menu featuring all your favourite dishes with contemporary flair. This is fine dining in a warm and welcoming atmosphere and it’s really lively! Time Out have listed this restaurant in the top 10 pizza haunts London, but we love the Orecchiette alla Sofia – pasta shells with fresh spinach, sundried tomato, garlic and ricotta cheese.

 

All restaurants featured in this article offer a discount with The Restaurant Club card

A version of this article previously appeared in The JC