Situated right in the heart of swish Mayfair and just a stone’s throw from Oxford Street lies the new restaurant Sparrow Italia, which has officially opened its doors today – Tuesday October 18.
A modern Italian and Mediterranean fusion restaurant, it’s the second restaurant of its kind following last year’s Los Angeles debut, and features an expansive menu by celebrated Chefs AJ McCloud and Ivan Simeoli – both of whose aim is to transport you all the way to ‘the enchanting Southern European coast’.
With a total capacity of 189 across three different floors, Sparrow Italia houses a ground-level brasserie, a terrace dining room on the first floor, a parlour dining room on the second floor, and a classy top-floor cigar lounge.
The restaurant’s design features neutral tones with accents of emerald and blue, modern light fixtures, and materials such as marble, tile insets, and wood – all contributing to that romantic coastal aesthetic. Not to mention the staff, who were all absolutely wonderful and attentive throughout the evening we visited.
There’s a fantastic downstairs bar which serves some excellent wines and some killer cocktails too. We went for the ‘Apulia’ – a refreshing mix of gin, olive oil washed vodka, lime, tomato red bell peppers, apulian olive oil and capers – and the ‘Sicily’ – a lovely concoction of blanco tequila, 1757 extra dry vermouth, lime, agave orgeat, guava puree, averna, bitters and rosemary absinthe.
And now for the star of the show – the food. Incorporating a whole host of bold and fresh flavours and using only sustainable and organic ingredients, it’s absolutely delicious and certainly one of the best meals this author has ever had in London Town.
For starters, we went for the ‘bluefin tuna tartare’ with avocado and a truffle ponzu and the ‘crispy truffle arancini’ – both, by the way, were absolutely banging. For mains we went for the ‘fassone strip steak’ and the ‘grilled branzino’ with a Sicilian pistachio crust, charred lemon and fine herbs – both with a sauteed spinach side.
Other standouts on the menu include the ‘lobster linguine’ – made with British Isles lobster with an acqua pazza and lemon-parsley butter – and the ‘monkfish livornaise’ served with manila clams, fresh tomatoes, wild cabbage, and brodo.
If you’ve room for dessert, then you can’t go wrong with the classic tiramisu or the heavenly ‘citrus olive oil cake’ – drizzled in a passionfruit gel and a tangy orange marmalade. Finish off your evening at Sparrow Italia with a glass or two of dessert wine while listening to the DJ spinning tunes alongside a live musician, and you’ve got one hell of a good date night here.