LAVO Ristorante

LAVO’s blissful depiction of Italian cuisine really is an adventure, thanks to the glamorous setting that is the BoTree Hotel in Marylebone. You’re in good hands with welcoming staff who take care of you from the moment you walk in, and lead you through a breathtaking restaurant, designed to look like a chic Tuscan garden. Luxury extends to the experience too – staff offers you a choice of water infusions before you’ve even ordered a snack with wedges of grapefruit, lemon, lime, and cucumber available for your pick.

LAVO’s spacious dining room scales over two floors and includes a sophisticated bar area, perfect for cocktail catch-ups. All dining tables offer maximum privacy with a variety of booths and widely positioned tables to choose from. We began our dining experience with a selection of antipasti, which included an excellent Fritto Misto - the perfect pick for seafood lovers, with crisp, fresh seafood paired with a side of spicy tomato sauce, which really complimented the dish. We also loved the grilled octopus, with succulent slices of octopus arranged on a bed of celery, potatoes, black olives, and cipollini onions; a surge of complementary flavours in every bite.

The menu is well thought-through and showcases an array of delicious Italian classics, the best of which is a Silk Handkerchief pasta dish, where pasta sheets are tossed in a sumptuous wild boar bolognese, a good handful of Parmigiano Reggiano and light shavings of black truffle.

LAVO is all about aesthetics, but brilliant service and a menu full of excellent dishes options mean that this restaurant is more than just a pretty face.

LAVO Ristorante is the flagship Italian restaurant at independent luxury hotel The BoTree in Marylebone, famous for serving a colossal 1lb Wagyu meatball with ricotta and marinara sauce. The restaurant is under the direction of the Tao Group, which oversees all the food and drink within the restaurant. The Tao Group is well-known as the group responsible for upscale establishments like the renowned Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant Hakkasan, which gives some indication of what to expect at LAVO Ristorante.

This is LAVO Ristorante's first London site. Originally hailing from California, LAVO has built a fine reputation in the US based on sophisticated Italian cuisine and a focus on top quality seafood, with sites in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. LAVO London follows a similar design theory to the US sites, blending pale wood, stone floors and lots of foliage to create a distinct Mediterranean garden vibe. Next to a marble counter, a tree sprawls up through the ceiling.

The menu takes authentic Italian cooking and injects it with a bit of flair and luxury, as well as some North American maximalism and indulgence. Take, for instance, the hefty saucy meatball, a huge 1lb Wagyu meatball smothered in marinara sauce and topped with whipped ricotta. For a refined option, the tagliatelle al limone is a good choice, featuring delicate pasta served with sweet butter and adorned with kaluga caviar. There are also larger sharing dishes, like a salt-baked seabass to be shared between two. 

Tao Group doesn't hold back on cocktails either, and LAVO Ristorante features a similarly innovative cocktail programme to the likes of Hakkasan, as well as smartly-curated wine selections and high-end service.