Pasta

They've known each other since the early Nineties, and now chef Gennaro Contaldo's career is mirroring his protegee Jamie Oliver. He's teamed up with the same restaurant company that recently revived Jamie's Italian to open his first restaurant in almost 20 years.

Bolo, in the heart of Soho, is keeping things very simple. There are just 32 seats and the menu will focus around six specific pasta dishes. As the restaurant's name suggests, various takes on Bolognese are at the heart of the offering, and Gennaro's pork and beef version is served here with tagliatelle. Other pastas

London's pasta scene could not be hotter right now - with everywhere from no reservation spots to fine dining restaurants doing great business. We pick out the best pasta to be had in the city.

As they reach their 10th birthday, Padella have just opened their third restaurant. We went down to Soho to see how the leaders of London's pasta revolution are faring after a decade. 

8/12/25 - updated with the opening date

His main home may be Elystan Street, but Phil Howard's other business looks like it's doing pretty well. Fresh pasta bar Notto is already on Piccadilly and in Covent Garden, and a third is on the way to the City. 

If you're as yet unfamiliar with the restaurant, ...

We can't quite believe it's been 10 years since Padella first roared onto the London restaurant scene. The idea of well-priced, freshly made pasta dishes in a modern setting blew our tiny London minds at the time and set the scene for a perma-queue that pretty much remains at its OG Borough Market restaurant to this day.

Now the duo behind it, Tim Siadatan and Jordan Frieda (and also co-owners of Islington's Trullo), are gearing up to open a third Padella (their Shoreditch one opened back in 2020). This one's in the heart of the West End, in Soho on Kingly Street.

On the

Pasta restaurant Bancone already has four restaurants across town (Soho, Covent Garden, Kensington and Borough), and they're getting ready to open a fifth. They're opening in a new development on Princes Street (down the road from Bank station and around the corner from The Ned).

If you're yet unfamiliar with them, Bancone started early in the current wave of fresh pasta bars opening

Updated 5/7/25 with soft launch info

It's been some time since Angela Hartnett opened the last Cafe Murano (over five years ago in Bermondsey) but now she's getting ready to open a new branch, this time in Marylebone. 

The latest cafe is opening on Dorset Street (taking over the old AOK Kitchen site). Expect it to be similar to the others, serving up a short,

Already an instant hit from the word go, we visited Osteria Angelina, the new restaurant from the Angelina Dalston team, to see what the secret of their success is.

18/5/25 - updated with the opening date

After decades spent as a standalone store in Soho selling fresh pasta and Parma ham to Londoners, it's fair to say that Lina Stores is now a fully-fledged chain. They're currently working on their tenth opening, this time in Canary Wharf. This will be their third City space, following hard on the heels of a Broadgate branch which opened

Slowly but surely, some notably interesting restaurants have been opening around High Street Kensington station. We had the excellent Krokodilos fairly recently and now Bancone have picked the area for their fourth location.

If you're unfamiliar with Bancone, they're predominantly

Amidst a sea of luxury openings comes a well-priced Soho spot that wants to make sitting down for a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine an easy, fun thing to do. We find that 27 Old Compton Street is very much to our taste. 

5/3/25- updated with opening date

One of London's best pasta restaurants is gearing up for a new opening. They already have popular restaurants on Old Street and in Fitzrovia, and now Officina 00 are going even more central for their next

He already has two more Italian restaurants in Soho named after the street they're in, so when restaurateur Nima Safaei came around to giving his latest opening a moniker he stayed true to form, naming it after its address on Compton Street. But while this new restaurant may share a naming convention with its sibling restaurants, it's going to be quite a different beast.

The new spot is focusing on quick pasta - think of

Cementing London's current love affair with all things Italian American is new East London restaurant Senza Fondo, a self-styled 'premiumised lasagneria'. The concept is all about big plates and communal dining with the key offering being an all-you-can eat lasagna for just £20. It's taken over the old Rossopomodoro site just off Hoxton Square so it's going to be a pretty large place complete with a bar at the

Cafe Kitty only lasted nine months as the Soho Underbelly Bouevard's dining spot, but now another high-profile restaurant is giving it a shot.  This time, it's Peckham's Artusi (also behind Marcella in Deptford), who will be taking it on as Artusi