Florence Knight is Back

You know my last name is Costanza. That's Italian, so you and I are like country men Pisano's

George Costanza (Seinfeld episode “The Calzone”)

Probably one of the most anticipated openings or in this case re-opening was Polpetto. Yes Russell Norman and Richard Beatty little sister of Polpo. So finally I had the chance to give them a visit. Bigger than the original place, with 60 seats, eating bar, open kitchen, chef‘s table, and a menu under the control of chef Florence Knight.

The bar

We got a good selection from their menu, including and amazing Burrata with the agretti and chilli. Then we got scallops perfectly cooked in a cauliflower puree and with lardo to give some saltiness to the dish, really lovely. Then a beef shin ragu pasta that was impeccable, this was the highlight of the day, rustic, home made style, the perfect comfort food, beef tender, flavour spot on, and pasta al dente. Finally we got some chicken oysters, nicely done, good balance and crispiness in the dish. 

Beef Shin

Chicken Oysters

The food was flawless, nice flavours and unpretentious. Definitely coming back!

Polpetto

T: 020 7439 8627

Italian Cuisine

Approx Damage: £31pp

Area: Soho

Borough: City of Westminster

Twitter: polpettoW1

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Russell Norman Strikes Back

The new venture for Russell Norman small dishes empire is Mishkin’s. Yes the same Norman that gave us the magic of Da Polpo, Spuntino, Polppeto, and Polpo is back looking for rebel forces on the planet Covent Garden. Loose Jewish comfort food, nothing too kosher about that, would this be the place that Ezra Mishkin envisioned? Not so crowded as his brother Spuntino, Mishkin’s has a unique atmosphere, a definitive mix between Manhattan and London, big bar just at the entrance and tables at the back, wooden and brick walls, and their now classic rustic décor. 

Mishkin's

Inside

My friend first comment after studying the menu was I don’t understand it, who cares? Order one of each and make your life easy, if it’s as good as Da Polpo or Spuntino you will be fine. Good cocktails, I haven’t been feeling too good so I ordered a milkshake which was pretty good, but my friend ordered a Diamond Fizz (gin, prosecco, and lemon) which actually loved so much that couldn’t resist to tweet about that. 

Diamond Fizz

Plenty of options I knew I wanted to try the Reuben, pastrami on rye with sauerkraut, Swiss melted cheese, and Russian dressing. It was awesome, huge portion, full of flavour, the dressing, the sauerkraut, and the melted cheese in perfect balance with the pastrami, definitely my favourite Reuben in London, I can compare it to the one of Grahamwich in Chicago. I want it more so I ordered a special fried sprouts with garlic dip, the battered was good, nice flavour, good dip, but I think it felt a little bit short. Finally I was between meatballs or the traditional matzo ball soup, at the end decided to try the Lamb and Pistachio meatball, good spicy kick, nice flavour but a little bit dry, nothing serious that can be easily fix as the flavours are there. 

Reuben

More Reuben

Meatballs

Fried Sprouts

Highly recommended, nice atmosphere, R&B music out loud, I recall Otis Redding version of Satisfaction, a different and unique menu, and great cocktails, I wonder why it wasn’t as packed as Spuntino during my visit, probably Jewish cuisine is a hard sell for Londoners, not sure, time will tell, but for now I will go for my Matzo Ball and another Reuben when nearby Covent Garden. 

A view of the bar

Jewish cuisine reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Fatigues” 

George: What are you doing here? 

Kramer: Well, he came by to pick up his check for the banquet hall. You know I got a hundred and eighty-three responses? Oh, it's going to be a ragger 

Jerry: Kramer, how are you going to cook Jewish delicacies for a hundred and eighty-three people? 

Kramer: Yeah, you're right. That's a lot of pupkitz. Hey Frank, you know anybody who can help me cook? 

Frank: Cook? No, I don't know any cooks. I don't know anything about cooking!

Mishkin's

T: 020 7240 2078

Jewish Deli

Area: Covent Garden

Borough: Westminster

Twitter: MishkinsWC2

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Da Polpo: New York Italian Style in London

What can be better than Italian cuisine with New York influence in the middle of London? Well that’s what Richard Beatty and Russell Norman figure it out when they open their fourth venture Da Polpo. The restaurant has the same style as their brothers Polpo, Polpetto, and Spuntino, no reservation policy, pretty similar trendy industrial decor, great food, and good service.

da Place

Deja Vu

I was wanting to visit the place after I felt in love with Spuntino, I don’t know if it was because it remind me Manhattan or just because it is a great place, with simple food, and amazing flavours. So my friend Reter came to visit and I couldn’t resist taking him to the place.

da Bar, this time more tables than bar as opposite to Spuntino

The menu based on Cicheti, Pizzette, Vegetables & Salads, Meatballs, Plates, and Desserts. Funny enough no octopus at all in the menu, but plenty of options so we decided to try as much as we can.

da Menu

First the cicheti which means a small snack or side dish typically from Venice, we got two of them, a potato and parmesan croquette, and an arancini, both extremely tasty. Then we share two pizzette, the first one with mortadella, gorgonzola, and pickled radicchio, and the second one with pork shoulder and pickled pepper, quite good both, and inviting to order more, so we then went for the meatballs, our choice lamb and mint, excellent flavour. Last but not least we got two plates, the fritto misto which is seafood deep fried, and the grilled asparagus buttered eggs and parmesan, amazing, excellent way to end a superb meal.

Cicheti 

Pork shoulder and pickled pepper pizzette 

Mortadella, Gorgonzola, and pickled radicchio 

Fritto misto 

Meatballs, probably a favourite for a Swedish colleague

Eggs and asparagus, breakfast?

Now I’m intrigue and will have to visit Polpetto and Polpo to see if the older brothers are as good as the two youngest. In conclusion Da Polpo delivered as good as Spuntino, a little bit of déjà vu, in this case a good one, New York not over complicated Italian tasty food style, just another great place.

Wine to share

Make one thing in another fellow blogger

Octopus reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Marine Biologist”.

George: Then of course with evolution the octopus lost the nostrils and took on the more familiar look that we know today. But if you look really closely you can still see a bump where the nose used to be.

Diane: Really?

George: Yeah, but enough about fish I can talk about other things like architecture.

The place every blogger is talking about: Spuntino

I read a bunch of reviews about how great the food is in Spuntino and decided I had to go immediately. The place is in Soho, European tapas style, well after their name which means snack in Italian except apparently for Sardinia where it mean an all day feast with cheese, wine, veggies, and sheep meat. There is no reservation so you have to arrive and do the queue to get your table, actually I think they only have one table the rest of the sits are around the bar. The place is owned by Russell Norman the same of Polpo, and the word around town is that the place is worth the wait.

The Waiting Wine

Packed as usual

Got to the place, did a 20-25 minutes waiting, while drinking white wine and finally got our sits and ready to order. First, we got spicy popcorns with paprika in a mug, nice touch, quite good ones, it was a good start for our evening. It followed by eggplant chips, my favourite dish of the night, I could have been eating only that, actually we got another ones by mistake and I ate them all, didn’t bother to share them with the rest, sorry Sarah.

Popcorn

Eggplant chips

After that we got Sliders (which are mini burgers), I got the brick lane salt beef and the ground beef and bone marrow, unbelievable, great flavour, quite tasty, the bone marrow one definitely the best one. As side shoestring fries which were good.

Sliders

Then got a zucchini chilli and mint pizzetta which was ok, follow by calamari and chick peas and ink, ok again but didn’t blow my mind like the eggplant fries and the sliders. Softshelf crab and aioli which were exceptional, and to end Egg and Soldiers, original presentation, concept, and good execution.

Egg and Soldiers 

Pizzetta 

Calamari 

Softshell Crab

Overall an amazing experience, now I can join the fuss and say that Spuntino is the place to go in Soho.

Lamp 

Menu

The fact that everybody is talking about the place reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Fire” when Jerry heckles back Kramer’s girlfriend.

Ronnie: I heard you went down to somebody's office and heckled them?

Jerry: Damn right! We've been lapdogs long enough!

Ronnie: How could you do that? I mean, everybody's talking about it.

Jerry: Well, it's about time one of us drew a line in the sand.

Ronnie: Jerry, you're like Rosa Parks. You opened the door for all of us. I can't wait till the next time someone heckles me.

Jerry: Yeah, well, won't be long.


Spuntino
No Telephone / No Reservation
European Tapas
Borough: Westminster
Area: Soho
Twitter: Spuntino

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