La Goccia

When you start to look, it’s amazing how many hidden gems you can uncover in central London. Joining the ranks, just off the chaos of Covent Garden, is La Goccia, with its heated secret garden and glass walled restaurant. It’s a Petersham Nurseries offering and has that same allotment-grown-ingredients vibe as its neighbour next door.

The menu takes the shape of Italian sharing plates, dishes which appear as and when they’re ready and span an impressive range starting with snacks and moving through small plates, pasta, grills and sides. Most of the produce is organic, and the slow-food movement is evidenced through the seasonality of the things on offer.

Little picky plates like crisp pear with chunks of salty Manchego prove you can have your cake and eat it (or in this case get one of your five a day disguised as cheese). Puffed up, golden doughballs come with sweet Gorgonzola and a tangle of buttery prosciutto. Meanwhile, a surprising standout comes looking demure – a beige plate of baby squid – but it’s perfect, crispy and served with a punchy aioli that near-transports you to an Italian seaside trattoria.

Heartier plates come from the wood fired oven and we couldn’t resist the chicken – it’s a classic for a reason. Forget the shaved slices of roast chicken your gran used to serve, here it’s cleaved up into thick, juicy pieces with crispy skin and plenty of roasting liquor to mop your forkful round. On the side a plate of cavolo nero and borlotti beans have all melted into one another to create a thick, creamy side that carefully balances feeling nourishing with feeling luxurious. It’s the kind of cookery that takes real skill.

Sometimes we feel as though we’ve become near-immune to claims of ingredient-led menus. Here, however, the produce is so fresh that the resulting food reminds you of the true meaning of the phrase.

One of two restaurants at Petersham Nurseries Covent Garden site (the other being The Petersham), La Goccia is a relaxed, all-dayer offering an extensive menu of Italian small plates, otherwise known as cicchetti. Named after the Italian interiors shop owned by co-founder Francesco Boglione’s mother, the verdant, naturalistic space features an open grill and wood-burning oven, with food prepared in front of guests.

The all-day menu at La Goccia escorts you through a gamut of Italian food, from aperitivi like toasted Sicilian almonds, beef tartare and burrata with roasted squash and agrodolce (a sweet and sour onion condiment), through a selection of cured meat, cheese and deep-fried fritti, and finally to the star players, the primi, carne e pesce. Primi plates are largely pasta focused - there's rigatoni with a hearty slow cooked beef ragù alongside silky white truffle tagliolini and a gorgeous, sighing wild mushroom risotto. 

Cocktails meanwhile, are botanically-inspired.