Radici, London: restaurant review | Jay Rayner

Chef Francesco Mazzei has always been wildly brilliant, but he has never before been good value. Lucky us…

Radici, 30 Almeida Street, London N1 1AD (020 7354 4777). Meal for two, including drinks and service: £40 to £120

There is one dish on the menu at Radici, a new Italian in London’s Islington, which sums up the restaurant. It is listed under “Primi” as “taglierini, fagioli and pancetta”. That’s ribbons of a thin tagliatelle-style pasta, white beans and bacon, in a dense, starchy broth of such intensity and such conviction, you could be forgiven for thinking your very soul is lost somewhere in its depths, undergoing respite care. It is the domestic eaten outside the home; a bowlful of muchness, built on very little. It costs £8.