A marriage of Italian and Japanese cuisine could so easily be a disaster, but here it is a happy union
Angelina, 56 Dalston Lane, London E8 3AH (020 7241 1851). Five-course set menu £38; daily plate £9; wines from £24
When I first heard about Angelina, I suffered acute flashbacks. All of a sudden it was November 2003, and I was back in a sun-drenched white box of a room in London’s St James’s, feeling unkempt and nowhere near cool enough for the walls. A waiter was offering to explain the concept behind the menu. I was trying not to flinch. London’s nasty, brutish critics pointed and laughed at the place and I pointed and laughed with them. After it closed, one of the owners, Jamie Barber, gave a spirited defence: “Some people say Shumi wasn’t a successful restaurant, but I disagree. I say it was an unmitigated disaster. I think we got everything right except for the design, the service, the menu, the pricing and the execution. It was an extremely difficult period.”
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