You'll find the restaurant on Highbury Park, opposite St Joan of Arc church.
Is this the Theo James restaurant?
There are three people behind this new North London restaurant, but it's fair to say that one of them is a lot more well-known than the other two. Actor Theo James (White Lotus and The Gentlemen) has joined forces with Carousel founder Ed Templeton and chef Naz Hassan to open a Rome-inspired restaurant in Highbury. Apparently, both Theo and Ed are Highbury locals, so they came up with the idea of opening their own neighbourhood spot and took over this space on Highbury Park. As for the chef, Naz has plenty of experience when it comes to great neighbourhood restaurants, having been head chef at Pidgin in Hackney and Neo Bistro.
Where exactly is it?
It's about a five-minute walk from the top of Highbury Fields. Arsenal is the nearest tube station, but it's not that far from either Highbury and Islington or Finsbury Park either. Back in the day, this used to be a very old-school Italian deli, so it's rather nice to see great pasta and more being served up here once more.
Where's a good place for a drink first?
There are plenty of good pubs nearby - the Bank of Friendship would be our preferred spotand we did indeed pop into the pub garden there for a quick drink on the night. Lupa is also close to both Giacco's and Top Cuvee if you fancy a cocktail or wine before or after your meal here.
Where should we sit?
This is a very small neighbourhood restaurant. Add to that the celebrity factor and you'll be happy to sit wherever they put you. That said, the tables along the windows are obviously the best option.
Here's what the inside of the restaurant looks like
Are we starting with cocktails?
We did. There were four on offer on our visit, a negroni, martini, spritz and and an M&M (a 50/50 mix of Montenegro and Mezcal) with coffee. As we so often pick a martini to test the drinks offering, we're going to start grading our martinis on how close they got to the perfect temperature.
Negroni (£9) and fig leaf martini (£10) - coldness rating 70%. We'd give them an extra score for how beautifully the negroni matched the flowers.
So it's a Roman restaurant then? What does that mean, food-wise?
The menu doesn't have anything so obvious as courses on it, but it's loosely divided into antipasti, pasta, secondi and sides. If you were popping by for a quick lunch, you could share some salumi and pasta and be very happy. Or you could come for dinner, as we did, and work your way through most of the menu.
Here's what we had to give you an idea of the dishes on offer, how big they are and how much they cost.
Fior di zucca (£10.50) - fried courgette flower, burrata, anchovy
Carpaccio di pomodoro (£8.50) - Riccio fiorentino tomatoes, capers, lemon zest, pangrattato. Honestly, we're still thinking about how delicious this dish was.
There was a choice of four pastas on the menu. Other options included bucatini allamatriciana, pici cacio e pepe, trofie al pesto. But honestly if you're having one it really has to be this one.
Paccheri all carbonara (£15.50) - we don't know for sure, but we'd hazard a guess that Burford Browns were used in the making of this super golden pasta. Instantly one of the must-have pasta dishes in London right now but don't get it near any white clothes.
Porchetta (£19) - an absolutely belter of a piece of porchetta stuffed with herbs and apricots and perfect crispiness on the outside. Look out for porchetta sandwiches which will be on sale here on match days.
Pan-fried cod (£16.50) - loved the buttery sauce this came with. Would have loved to have seen more evidency of the pan frying in terms of colour or texture here though.
Room for dessert?
There were just two on offer and rather than face the dilemma of picking one, we had both.
Crostata del giorno (£10) - pie of the day when we visited was peach with ricotta.
Tiramisu (£10) - a perfect iteration.
What about the wine list?
They say their list concentrates on "keenly-priced, approachable Italian wines from independent winemakers". Our bottle of ‘Vignali’ Basilicata IGT Bianco is also one of two white wines available by the glass. It's £42 by the bottle and was a happy match for most of what we had. Prices range from £35 to £92 for a bottle of La Rocca Soave from Pieropan.
Overall thoughts:
This corner site in Highbury has changed hands a lot while we've been living in the area. But it seems that in Lupa, it finally has something that both locals and other Londoners will want to try. That menu will probably change regularly, benefiting regular return visits. And who knows, you might spot a famous face when you do.
More about Lupa
Where is it? 73 Highbury Park, London N5 1UA
How to book? Book online.
Find out more: Follow them on Instagram @lupa.restaurant
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Lupa. Prices correct at time of publication.
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