Bocca di Lupo
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By Elena Berton
In superstitious Italy no one will ever wish you good luck. Instead, they will tell you in bocca al lupo (literally, ‘into the mouth of the wolf’). There are plenty of opportunities to learn peculiar Italian idioms at Bocca di Lupo, especially if you check out the loos, where the walls are decorated with culinary proverbs helpfully translated into English. But the main reason for visiting this new Soho Italian should be the chance to experience an outstanding gastronomic tour of most of Italy’s 20 regions, preferably perched next to the long white-marble counter with a full view of the kitchen.
Chef Jacob Kenedy, who previously worked at Moro, has borrowed the degustation concept now obligatory in French and Spanish restaurants and applied it to Italian regional cuisine. The result is a daily changing offering of starter-sized servings of skilfully prepared regional specialities – which the impeccably trained staff will suggest you mix and share – or larger portions for those who prefer a more traditional Italian meal.
The seasonal menu currently favours robust, comforting fare from northern and central Italy, with highlights such as plump porcini nestled on a wedge of grilled yellow polenta and topped with lardo di Colonnata, the melt-in-the-mouth cured lard from Tuscany.
Other must-try dishes, which seldom appear on restaurant menus in London, are crisp-fried artichokes, a Jewish-Roman speciality; or the crescent-shaped fried bread from Bologna accompanied by fluffy squacquerone cheese and fennel-fragranced salami.
Another timely treat (and nice superstitious touch) is the unctuous cotechino sausage with lentils, which is traditionally served around new year. Because lentils symbolise money, the more you eat, the richer you will supposedly grow in the coming year.
Those who have grown tired of tiramisu and panna cotta can look forward to more regional discoveries. If there’s no room for the luscious Sicilian cassata, a glassful of burnt almond granita with a bitter chocolate sorbet is a lighter, but equally indulgent, conclusion to a remarkable meal.
On our visit, just over a week after opening, the dining room was justifiably full. Despite Bocca di Lupo’s understated luxe atmosphere and outstanding food, prices are surprisingly lower than those of many so-called aspirational Italian restaurants in central London. As they say in Italy, botte buona fa buon vino (a good cask makes good wine).Time Out December 2008
See also
- London's top 50 restaurants
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Details
- 12 Archer Street, Soho, W1D 7BB
- Area: Soho
- Tel: 7734 2223
- www.boccadilupo.com
- Category: Italian
- Travel: Piccadilly Circus tube
- Times: 12.30-3pm, 5.30-11pm Mon-Sat
- Price: Meal for two including wine and service: around £70
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My wife and I ate at Bocca di Lupo this week. Our experience was that this was a good, but not outstanding, place to eat. Yes, very stylish. Service was good, but not perfect (clearing away dishes within a split second of my wife putting her fork down). The concept of lots of small dishes from different regions of Italy is excellent. But the execution was inconsistent. From the beginning:
Bread, olives and olive oil. The best bread I've had in a restaurant for a long, long time. Tasty, fresh olive oil and good olives.
We started with lamb prosciutto, served with pecorino sardo, and tuna tartare, flavored with orange and pine nuts. Both I was unsure about with the first mouthful, finding the lamb a bit strongly flavored and the orange a bit dominating. But both grew on me and by the end I thought they were interesting variations on standard dishes. We also had a dishes of fried shrimp, eel and white polenta. Less successful IMO. The shrimp were tasty, as was the polenta, but the eel was chewy and had an odd after taste.
For the main course we had spaghettini with bottargo and breadcrumbs, which was underwhelming in terms of the bottargo (could hardly taste it - there seemed to be very little and it was chopped into small pieces rather than grated into the pasta), but nice and fresh tasting with a slight lemon undertone. We also had pork & foie gras sausage with farro & porcini, which was great - rich and flavorsome. All with deep fried baby artichoke - nice, but we should have ordered more.
For dessert, I had the pigs blood and chocolate sweet pate, topped with pine kernels and candied peel, served with bread. It was like a very rich chocolate mousse. Slightly, very slightly savoury, and not just in the sense of not being that sweet (though it wasn't). My wife had a burnt almond granita and bitter chocolate sorbet. Good, but it could have been a little sweeter.
Coffee was unremarkable. My espresso was underpowered and watery.
'Pate de foie gras to the sound of trumpets'? Frankly I'd rather eat at Bocco di Lupo, the faultless new Italian in Soho.
The surroundings are not just glamorous, but grown-up. Stunning huge oil paintings adorn the walls. It's friendly and modern, with none of the old fashioned yards of starched white linen and attitudes to match.
You are transported to another and a better world. Flavors are combined with a breathtaking confidence and subtlety.
We loved a simple radish and celeriac salad with truffle oil, and a dish of fried artichokes with sweetbreads. Next came a tender poussin with a side of roast potatoes with chestnuts and a ravishing spaghetti with lobster and a hint of ginger. A nice bottle of Prosecco conjured up the Italian sunshine. Sadly too full for pudding we vowed to return.
Their tapas system lets you plan a meal to suit your budget. Their lunch and pre-theatre deals look exceptional value. This place is heavenly.
Eating at Bocca di Lupois was an experience of both delicacy and delight - a celebration of the senses for food lovers (Italians or not). This, whilst making one feels very much 'at home' - charging a very reasonable price for it too. Superb food, an amazing menu to select from, beautifully designed place and a very personal and attentive service.
I have just read Jennifer's review, and I could not resisit to write something in order to express my opinion on her comments.
I am also 100% italian and I cannot disagree more with Jennifer's review!
I quote: "Anyone trying to recreate regional italian cuisine should start with ... being italian ! "... "WHY??".... Your comment does not make any sense and it hasn't anything to do with food!... If it made sense then I could say to you 'what do you know about italian food? You are not italian either!!",,,which I obviously don't say because it would not make sense either!
But lets stick with food and leave our passport's issues behind.... I have been raised with traditional italian food in a very traditional southern italian family...and the reason why I love Bocca di Lupo is because they have been able to bring back to me the very original taste of italian food, which I have missed so much since I moved here to london.
they have put together a menu which is well beyond the old fashion and dated notion of 'italian restaurant' some people may have.... it is just simply very good! The ragu' tomato sauce is as good as my mother's... which says everyting to me!...the fritto romano is a mind-blowing experience reminding me of a genuine osteria in Trastevere... oh and a special mention goes to the Rum baba!....the traditional dessert from Naples, which is where I am from... very difficult dessert to make and so easy to get wrong..... but the BDL's baba' is just perfect!... As good as the 'Baba' di Mery'.... any neapolitan reading this will know what I am talking about!
I also do not find it expensive at all to be honest.... It is not the £15 two courses italian restaurant serving rubbery Lasagna that some people may go for... I spend an average of £40 everytime I go there..... sometime little less sometime a little more.... but.... it is worth every single penny!!
So, TOP MARKS TO BOCCA DI LUPO! I love everything about their food!!!
The previous post seem to suggest that if you are not Italian, you cannot cook Italian food - where does this national snobbery come from? I have eaten at Bocca di Lupo several times and love the place. The atmoshere is refined but unstuffy and ingredients and cooking top class. Service is unhurried and knowledgable - it is not the cheapest place I have been - but value is certainly there considering the quality of the ingredients and the time and attention paid to the cusine. A welcome addition to central London dining.
I took my husband (100% Italian) to Bocca di Lupo and we were not impressed. Anyone trying to recreate regional italian cuisine should start with ... being italian ! A person's palate is born out of childhood: the food we ate as kids leaves a lasting impression on our taste buds and unless you have experienced the true and correct ingredients and cooking methods you will never be able to recreate the same dish, however a good chef you are. BDL is not a place that can be called "Italian" - the dishes we tasted were pleasant but nothing like the originals. Also, it is VERY expensive for what it is - I thought that restaurateurs, in these sticky times, would be keen to attract new customers by also offering value for money, absent lacking here.
The different sized plates are a great idea (meaning that people can have more or less depending on how hungry they are, without being constrained by only having little starters or big mains), but this would count for nothing if the food were not also superb. Thankfully, it is - this place is certainly a classic in the making and I can't wait to go back.
Couldn't agree more! As i am writing this from far far away Sao Paulo, Brasil, the memory of the deliciousness of the food still sticks fondly to my tongue.
Agree with your review 100%. Gnocchi with ragu sauce is as good as my mother's one and their Baba' dessert is the best this side of Naples!
However it is 'Botte piccola fa buon vino' ...a small cask makes good wine
this is the best italian restaurant in London in my opinion... beautiful restaurant and incredible food, cooked with skill and flare, but still simple and wholesome and not at all pompous