Luca

High quality cooking

Originally conceived by the owners of the Clove Club, this ‘Britalian’ restaurant is almost as well-known for its bar as its restaurant –so it was with some reluctance that we bypassed the Negroni-based fun in favour of the dining room. Until we clapped eyes on the space itself, that is: a stunning covered garden worthy of a Roman palazzo. Seating is divided between an attractive cosmopolitan room and a terrace complete with a fireplace, cobbles and foliage (you can specify where you sit when you reserve). For the Luca-on-a-budget experience, try the bar, where lunch is currently £32 for two courses. Otherwise, those with cash to splash can knock themselves out with four courses, Italian-style, and a bottle or two from the impressive Italian list – specialist subject Barolo (sub-£50 bottles are few). Vitello tonnato may now be ubiquitous in London but we’ll never tire of it when it's as satisfying as this. The veal is more well done than is fashionable – a good thing – but is tender and flavoursome beneath a generous spoon of tonnato mayonnaise and a frisky celery, artichoke and lemon salad. Terrific stuff. Fresh pasta is a standout: mezzi paccheri with a pork sausage ragù gains depth from anchovy and freshness from mint, while green and yellow variegated ribbons of tagliatelle with rabbit, lardo and green olives are comforting and luxurious in equal measure. Secondi at inspection include Hebridean lamb with caponata, Hereford beef fillet and short rib, and a dish of John Dory with mussels, mousserons, Jersey Royals and a frothy lemon verbena sauce. Tiramisu, like your nonna might make, is a bravely unfancy finish; vanilla panna cotta with Yorkshire rhubarb is a nicely executed pairing, if lacking the ‘Luca’ signature that characterises the restaurant's best dishes. Overall, a confident operation. Credit, in particular, for setting a tone as conducive to business as it is to pleasure.

Serving modern Italian food, Luca is a restaurant that follows in the footsteps of The River Café and Theo Randall at the InterContinental of British chefs cooking great Italian food. Launched in Clerkenwell back in 2016 by business partners Johnny Smith and Daniel Willis, Luca is led in the kitchen by former RAC and The Ledbury chef Robert Chambers. The restaurant specialises in serving high-quality ingredients from around the British Isles that are interpreted through an Italian lens. Pasta and antipasti options are both present and correct, with the menu also featuring a variety of meat and seasonal seafood dishes such as scallops from Orkney, Hebridean lamb, and turbot from Cornwall. The cooking, as you would expect from a restaurant of such pedigree, is skilful, combining both traditional and contemporary elements to great effect. The restaurant’s design supplements the food neatly, too. Its cavernous interior – the restaurant holds more than 125 covers – is smart and sophisticated. Split between multiple sections, it’s brought together with a visual identity inspired by 1950s art deco Italian graphic design and typography, which underpins the ‘Britalian’ approach. Luca is a commanding, confidently run restaurant, and one that, as its recent accreditation from Michelin proves, is still going from strength to strength.

2 Forchette