Angela Hartnett has today confirmed that Café Murano Covent Garden will open at 34-36 Tavistock Street on 29 June 2015.
This, the second Café Murano restaurant, will take the simple and seasonal approach to Italian cooking that has made the original in St. James’s a critical hit and local favourite, but will have a distinct personality. The menu has been developed by new Head Chef, Richard Lloyd, formerly sous chef at Hartnett, Holder and Co. in collaboration with Angela, and is inspired by recent travels around the regions of Italy. Next door at 34 Tavistock St, the new Pastificio will open on 13 July and offer pasta cooked daily by Angela’s chefs, available to take away for the first time with a bottle of wine or salumi.
Russell Sage Studios is behind the design of the 140-cover restaurant space, with the aim of encouraging releaxation and conviviality. The ground floor features warm terracotta leather banquette seating, a signature Carrera marble dining counter and antipasti stations displaying fresh and cured produce, for wait staff to bring to guests at their dark wooden tables. The upstairs dining room has a distinct ethereal quality, with dappled light filtering in through the latticework of the wooden tiles on the glass roof. The first floor will have its own bar in dark lacquered walnut wood and banquettes in midnight blue leather.
The ‘Pastificio’, next door to the restaurant at number 36, translates directly from the Italian as ‘pasta factory’. True to description, pasta ‘fatta a mano,’ such as the delicate spinach and ricotta tortelli and meaty anolini that Angela has become known for, will be made in house and available to take home every day. Taking gentle liberties with the term however, Café Murano’s ‘pastificio’ will stretch its remit to include a selection of quality salumi, fresh pasta sauces and wines from the restaurant, also for sale at shop prices. The Café Murano team trust this artistic licence with translation will be excused in the name of good food and wine.
