Restaurant Review - Jamie's Italian
Monday 27 June 2011
Cheryl Cole was not the only one returning from the U.S.A. with a flea in her ear for Jamie Oliver has also had his ‘cough softened’ by the Yanks! But then I guess it’s somewhat of a mammoth task for a Brit to land on the shores of the most powerful nation in the world and tell them where they have got it wrong! Taking on the America has historically been a difficult gig for any performer and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution TV series attracted poor ratings and was moved to a different time slot by the ABC network. Maybe if you want to ingratiate yourself with them, it wasn’t the smartest idea to go in and tell them collectively where they are wrong – even if they have massive problems with obesity. He has returned to the U.K. to focus on a new show called ‘Jamie’s Great Britain’ featuring popular dishes loved by the Brits.
However, credit where credit is due, this guy has been a phenomenen since he was picked out for stardom at the River Café with his easy cheeky chappy, ‘all around to my place on the scooter evenings’! Now 35 years old, with an estimated fortune of some £107m and some twenty or so restaurants around the world, he is a massive industry. He set about improving school dinners in the U.K. and also urging people to cook more at home. His last TV series of 30 Minute Meals for Channel 4 was hugely successful and the book with the series became the U.K.’s fastest selling non-fiction title of all time.
He now has a series of ‘neighbourhood’ Jamie’s Italian restaurants from Cardiff to Sydney, Birmingham to Dubai, with five more on the verge of opening. Everything here involves a highly thought out ‘studied casualness’ carried out with military precision down to the tins of tomatos plopped on the table to prop up antipasti platters. They don’t take bookings on Friday and Saturday or for under 6 people other days but they put it so nicely saying “we want you to visit us when it suits you” - a tad difficult with no bookings – “as our menu is designed around fresh, quality dishes that are quickly produced, we’ve decided to keep things simple. Rather than taking bookings, we suggest that you just come along and we’ll find you a table as soon as we can.” It was pretty jammers when we arrived to their flagship central London branch at Covent Garden on a Friday night but with a bit of blagging we were allowed sit on the ground floor at a communal table rather than downstairs in the cellar region or wait for a half an hour.
It’s all very pleasant and affable, lots of noise and buzz with the guys and girls waiting on tables having that born again Jamie fervour, but with no crap taken either from our neighbouring diner who was whinging about waiting for one of their main courses. The menu is typically modern Italian casual with Nibbles, Antipasti, Pasta, Secondi and Dolce. The equivalent here would be Dunne & Crescenzi who do a fine job at so many venues. We ordered nibbles of mini chillies stuffed with tuna (£4.45), marinated sardines (£3.75) with garlic, parsley, lemon and chilli, and a salami board (£4.45) of mildly truffled artisan salami. Eschewing prawn linguine, rich rabbit ragu pappardelle, lamb chops, scallop and squid ink et al, I opted for a special of plaice (£14.95) emblazoned with capers, chilli, tomatoes, parsley and olives in white wine. It was very light and tasty as was Mary’s half portion of asparagus risotto (£6.95). As a side we also had braised fennel (£3.75) with anchovies and chillies which we both loved. We finished with Amalfi lemon curd (£4.95) scattered with toasted pistachios and a threesome of raspberries for Mary, and an Affogato (£4.50) for me - vanilla icecream in an espresso coffee - whilst Mary also had an espresso (£2).
With a bottle of fresh and herby Agricole Anselmi Pinot Grigio 2009 (£19.50) our bill with optional service came to £76.25 (€88.17).
Jamie’s Italian Covent Garden,
10 Upper St. Martin’s Lane,
Covent Garden,
London WC2H 9FB.
Tel: +44 (0)203 326 6390
www.lucindaosullivan.com