On Virgin Ground

Whoops! Who ate all the bruschetta...

For someone who fancies themselves a bit of a foodie - if only for the amount I eat, as opposed to any real  expertise - living within easy reach of the World's End is definitely a plus, as the last year or so has seen a range of openings, switcharounds and more on the restaurant scene. When Rosso Pomodoro shut, it left many of its fans disappointed, and the site lay empty for quite a few months... seemingly the recession's ubiquitous calling card, the empty shop front, had finally hit Chelsea. So it was as much relief as curiosity that I felt on seeing the builders move in to develop the World's End latest Italian venture: Terra Vergine.

Inspired by the Abruzzo region of Italy, the emphasis is on quality, natural and pure ingredients. The menu is diverse, although not too long, following the traditional structure of starters and pasta (normally a first course in Italy), followed by a selection of meat or fish dishes, and sides chosen separately. They definitely sit on the pricey and more sophisticated end of the spectrum, although the dishes are not overly complex or adventurous - the emphasis is on quality.

Sitting outside on one of August's rare sunny afternoons, I was certainly struck by the freshness of the vegetables adorning my bruschetta: set off with a crisp white wine, and a good dose of sunshine, I definitely felt a blissful Mediterranean vibe. Having whet our appetites, a generous helping of garlic and white wine seafood linguine (packed full of our sea-dwelling friends) and some lobster spaghetti managed to transport us almost completely - only the rattling of the number 11 bus going by managed us out of our reverie. Rounding off with a traditional Italian affogato (amaretto, espresso and vanilla ice-cream), we'd enjoyed a meal as good as you'd find anywhere on the Italian coast. However, we'd also spent a fair few pennies. Whilst Terra Vergine is not Chelsea's priciest Italian, it's not your cheapest option either. Definitely one for a date, rather than a wallet friendly option for a group of friends. It will be interesting to see how it fits in amongst the many other Italian options in the immediate area.

Terra Vergine
442 Kings Road, London SW10 0LQ

Molti Piatti on the Kings Road

There is an absolute abundance of Italian’s in Fulham and Chelsea. Big ones, small ones, chains, independents, iconic ones, ones with longevity and ones that seem to disappear in the blink of an eye. With a strong preference for independent restaurants, one place that has long been on my hit list has been Osteria Dell’Arancio, which sits on the Kings Road just before the World’s End. Last Sunday, I finally got round to it!

From the outside, the place looks like a fairly large and unpretentious restaurant. The premises are light and airy, and the cool white exterior punctuated with bright green makes the place seem instantly inviting. Inside, the feel is vibrant, spacious and quirky all at once. The tables are of solid build, well spaced out, and the walls are covered in eye-popping collage-style paintings replete with tongue-in-cheek pop culture references, whilst the banquette seating is covered in a selection of colourful cushions.

However, if the look and feel is unpretentious, bright and welcoming, don’t be fooled that this place doesn’t take its food seriously. The menu is diverse and imaginative, and the wine list (helpfully divided by Italian region) is absolutely enormous! The food offering follows the traditional Italian format of bruschetta, antipasti, primi piatti, secundi piatti, contorni and desserts but you will not find a bog standard Bolognese here (though the owner is very accommodating, and I have a feeling he could rustle one up on request!)

We had a tough time deciding what to eat, but in the end plumped for:

Starters:

Octopus, borlotti bean, sunblushed tomato and olive warm salad

Squid, fennel and orange salad.

Mains:

Traditional Italian beef “tagliata” steak accompanied by rocket and parmesan

Tagliolini with langoustines and shredded courgette in a light tomato sauce

The owner was really helpful in finding us the right wine. Having recently returned from Tuscany we fancied a white from that region that wasn’t eye-wateringly expensive. Having chosen a selection of meat and seafood we were directed to a Tuscan white called Il Volano, which was fairly full bodied white with a very distinct taste that lent itself very well to our chosen dishes.

The octopus was rich and meaty, and the accompanying beans, tomatoes and olives were carefully balanced to produce something that was part hearty stew, but also retained a certain freshness and lightness. I really would recommend this as a starter

I’ve always been a big fan of squid, and this was done to perfection, cooked to add a slight smokey flavour, and remaining tender and not in the least rubbery. The boy doesn’t usually like the taste of orange anywhere but dessert (philistine!), but even he had to agree that the fennel and orange were each other’s perfect counterpoint and this was the dish I perhaps enjoyed the most from the meal.

Having recently got back from a trip to Italy where we had both fallen in love with the traditional tagliata dish, I’m sorry to say that although the steak was beautifully cooked (and good Lord do you get a lot of meat for your buck) some of the finer details that we had grown to love about the tagliata were missing. In Tuscany, and perhaps there are regional differences at play here, we had always been served tagliata cooked in a rosemary sauce with almost pesto-like consistency. This extra dimension of flavour was absent from the Osteria Dell’Arancio version, although the meat was cooked very well nonetheless.

On the other hand, my taglioni dish of dainty thin spaghetti was really delicious, even if langoustines were a little thin on the ground! The courgette had been carefully grated into little threads which meant it integrated itself well into the spaghetti and lended its flavour evenly throughout the dish, whilst the accompanying tomato-based sauce was well seasoned and light enough not to detract from the langoustines and courgettes which were the main event. As were all our dishes, it was served in almost artistic clean white crockery and was presented in a thoughtful and elegant manner.

Visiting as we did mid-Sunday afternoon, the place was not exactly heaving but the owner was very attentive, and you could see that the atmosphere would be absolutely fabulous on a Saturday night. It’s the kind of place you could go as a family, or for a fun night with friends, and although the atmosphere is light-hearted, I could recommend it for a date also. If they added the rosemary to their tagliati – I wouldn’t hesitate to give it a solid 9 out of 10!



383 Kings Road, London SW10 OLP
For reservations call 0207 349 8111 or book online

Buona Sera at the Jam - tree house dining at its finest

Being a total sucker for anything themed, or even just a bit kooky, I’d always been really intrigued by Buona Sera (at the Jam) on the King’s Road. Crammed into one of the KR’s typical tiny shop-spaces, is a restaurant of almost 20 tables for four, and a fully functional Italian kitchen – and the experience is anything but unpleasant! That’s because dining is split over two levels. Each table is its own wooden booth, and they are stacked, with the top booths reached via ladder – like your own personal tree house! So when the boy and I met up with two of his friends for dinner on the King’s Road over the weekend, and one friend requested a ‘fun Italian’, Buona Sera immediately sprang to mind. A word of warning however, this restaurant gets booked up, especially as everybody wants to dine in one the upper booths, and we had to wait until 9:30 to be able to eat. That said, we did ring up to book around Saturday lunchtime, and if you don’t mind soaking up the atmosphere from one of the lower booths, tables are fairly easy to come by.

What I did really like about this place, was the friendly customer service. Arriving bang on at 9:30, and starving, unfortunately our table wasn’t ready. The staff couldn’t have been more apologetic, explaining that a previous table had arrived very late for their booking and we were settled on a lower booth to make our order, and promised a free aperitif at the end of the meal. As soon as our table cleared, we were whisked up a level (TIP: do not attempt this in heels if you have spent the previous few hours at the pub, I was practically deposited via fireman’s lift, much to my party’s amusement!) and settled in our own little tree house. A great deal of thought has obviously been put into the design – despite all the furniture being made from wood, the booths were really comfortable, each has its own little set of dials to control lighting levels and the music volume, and they have decked the canopy with plants.

So what did we order?

I started with the garlic bread AND a delicious squid and tomato stew (Piggy I know, but as I mentioned, we’d been at the pub and I was ravenous!), followed by the miale pork (a kind of pork steak stroganoff). The garlic bread was a bit too garlicky, but I was impressed that the waitress immediately offered me a half-portion, seeing as I was ordering another starter, as a lot of restaurants are unwilling to halve their takings in this manner, let alone unprompted. The squid stew was also really tasty, but the piece de resistence was the miale. Another of our party ate this too and I think we were annoying the others in our raptures over the taste. It’s hearty, delicious and the sauce and balance of ingredients was just of the right consistency. At £14.90 for a very decent sized main course, it was really very impressive.

Amongst them, the other three ordered chicken wings (not very Italian, and actually whilst perfectly decent not especially amazing), and beef carpaccio (delicious, and as this arrived a few minutes after the others – I didn’t even notice the difference was so slight! – we were offered yet more Amaretto!) for starters. For mains, between us all we ordered two of the delicious miale, one traditional lasagne (pronounced “beautiful” by a very appreciative diner – it really is great when an Italian puts as much effort into getting the basics right as offering a broad and exciting range) and some spinach and ricotta cannelloni – also a real success.

Food and wine were flowing, and the final bill for two courses and drinks for four came to £90, including service, which I thought was incredibly reasonable. There were a few little glitches with timing the courses and getting us to our table in time, but they by no means ruined our evening, and the staff seemed more than eager to compensate for them, and were proactive about this too – we didn’t have to ask. Those free Amaretto’s to finish the meal were a perfect end, but as you can imagine, my exit from the restaurant was almost twice as graceless as my entrance. This place is unpretentious and great fun, perfect for enjoying hearty portions of great traditional Italian fare. Although, I have also been here on a date, and because you can adjust the lighting and have quite a lot of privacy, I wouldn’t rule it out for simple and quirky romance, either.

Buona Sera at the Jam

289A Kings Road, Chelsea

Photos my own