The Italian Job SW6
Tuesday December 15, 2010
Assumption is a dangerous thing. To take a proposition for granted as if it were true based on presupposition without reference to the facts.
Try as I might to avoid it I'm afraid I still do occasionally assume something or other, only to regret it later and vow not to do it again.
When the lovely family-run vegetable shop on the corner of Waldemar Avenue and Fulham Road finally closed a few years back and was taken over to expand into by the tapas restaurant next door, I assumed it would never work as such a big neighbourhood restaurant with such a swelling of covers.
It didn't and nor did the restaurant that followed it. My further assumption was that this was because neither of them cut the mustard on the food front and that no restaurant on that site delivers a good enough menu for its size and therefore won't survive.
The site then lay empty for a few years and I, along with many, wished someone would take it on and transform and nurture it, and turn it into a much-needed wonderful local family eaterie. Somewhere for locals to walk to and frequent.
So the opening of The Italian Job had me crossing my fingers yet again. One of four restaurants across town, it's the second Italian Job, the other being in Lavender Hill.
Also in the group, all owned and run by Italians Andrea Luppi and Franco Antonucci, are Sapori in Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and San Marco in Clapham High Street.
What's slightly dampened my enthusiasm is that, inviting though it looks inside, it's not always truly busy, and that awful assumption comes creeping in again.
So I'm off to have supper there and see. Monday nights are rarely busy in the restaurant world and when we arrive it does appear to be incredibly quiet, but Alison (she won't be left behind on a review night now) and I are warmly welcomed into the light and airy dining room filled with tiny twinkling Christmas lights.
As it's nearly Christmas we're straight into a bottle of Morellino Di Scansano (£22.40), captivating in its description of 'displaying enticing aromas of violet, raspberry and pomegranate' and part of a succinct and authentic Italian wine list.
We've been given a mandatory plate of olives and bread which are charged at £1.50 - I'm not sure this is a very popular move and not much of a cover-charge sweetener in my book. Bread in most restaurants is free in this credit crunch world we now live in, and customers have grown to accept it.
Moving on to the menu I'm a little overwhelmed by its length. There are pastas, pizzas, salads, there are meat dishes, fish dishes and more than a dozen specials.
We decide to plump for bruschetta (£4.60) and the very interesting sounding crostino di polenta with wild mushrooms, mint and Italian sausage (£6.90). The bruschetta is well made, the bread as fresh as it should be, and not soggy, which would have been proof they had been made well in advance.
But oh the crostini. The polenta is perfect and crisp, the sauce is rich, the mushrooms meaty and sausage rustic and delicious.
This dish is worthy of being promoted to a main course and, to be honest, the size of it only falls slightly short of achieving it.
On to the mains and we order a classic quatro stagioni pizza with tomato, mozzarella, anchovies, olives, capers, ham and mushrooms (£8.80) and spigola alla grigua con insalata di spinaci e eavanelli; grilled seabass with baby spinach, radish and chive salad, (£14.90).
The freshness of any fish is probably the most important marker for me when judging any restaurant's quality.
The pizza, although not cooked in a traditional wood-fired oven, but an electric one, is made superbly.
All their pastas and pizza doughs are made by hand each day and it shows in the delivery of the dishes.
This pizza tastes and looks homemade and generous, wildly scattered with goodies, not uniform like the big chains.
The seabass is exceptional. The art of cooking a fish this perfectly is a rarity and incredibly difficult to do. It simply couldn't be any fresher. Juicy, moist, and delicious
I almost feel I am in an Italian seaside town, the fish has just been delivered straight off the boat and whacked on the grill, part of the catch of the day, the freshness of which is such a treat to partake in.
By now, we are both depressed, really. This place should be packed. You should have to call up to beg to be squeezed in, the food is so good and perfect for a neighbourhood restaurant.
On the downside, the portions are too generous and the prices a little high.
If they were both brought down to the right level The Italian Job would, without doubt, fill to the gunwales and become the perfect neighbourhood Italian.
The Italian Job
764-766 Fulham Road, SW6
020 7731 4410 l
Nellie Nichols is a food consultant and has specialised in the industry for many years. Visit: www.nellienichols.com (opens new window).
