Does central London really need another fancy Italian restaurant? Well, yes, apparently it does …
oes the area around Sloane Square in central London really need another fancy, Italian-leaning restaurant that serves up tortellini in brodo and veal Milanese? Well, yes, apparently it does. One Saturday lunchtime late last year at Martino’s was hectic even in the delightful reception area, where we were waiting to check in a coat with the elegantly uniformed front-of-house ladies. All the tables in this hot new all-day brasserie were booked and busy, and plenty of walk-ins were champing at the bit for cancellations.
Actually, “delightful reception” is not a phrase I’ve often uttered, or even thought, but this is a Martin Kuczmarski restaurant, so the small things tend to add up to a larger picture – this cocoon-like holding pen keeps would-be queuers away from the diners. Why was I so charmed by this weird, crisply officiated bends chamber that operates as a liminal space between the real grubby world outside and the glitzy, sexy, mock-Italian trattoria inside? Well, it turns out that’s because it solved a problem that I didn’t even realise I had.
If you’ve been to Kuczmarski’s other restaurant, the Dover in Mayfair, you’ll be aware that this is the kind of hospitality for which his team strives – a rather old-school notion that restaurants should be pure, glamorous, fragrant escapism. The Dover serves cold martinis, lobster rolls and meatballs, but, just as importantly, it also has great lighting that momentarily diffuses a double chin, and pretty cutlery that makes a woman feel as if her hands are somehow daintier. At Martino’s, there are white tablecloths, an ox-blood floor, candle-lit tables and an elegant central bar where one can drink a garibaldi or negroni sbagliato and eat plates of zucchini fritti while seeing and being seen. Mind you, it is a rather conspicuous place to sit, so don’t bring an illicit lover here; if your lunch plans include a side portion of skulduggery, may I suggest one of the gorgeous half-booths at the back?
