Luca

It’s a universal truth: carbs are crowd-pleasers, so hiding behind pizza and pasta is easy if you’re an Italian restaurant looking to quickly win favour. But what of the restaurants proudly championing less obvious dishes? Enter, Luca. Little sister to two Michelin starred The Clove Club and a strikingly stylish Clerkenwell haunt that gives the touchstones of 1950s design a contemporary facelift via bare tables, iconic lighting styles and buttery leather upholstery.

Its reputation proceeds it, so it’ll be nothing new to anyone with a sense of London’s food scene that Luca is destination dining at its best. From start to finish it’s a seamless, sublime experience that starts with the chipper staff and ends – if you’re doing it right – with perfectly frothed, subtly sweetened, espresso martinis.

We’d suggest the chef’s menu which hands over all decision-making to the experts. Plates dip and dive through the seasons’ brightest produce. There are impossibly light Parmesan fries with crisp cases and airy interiors; roasted scallops seasoned with nduja, sitting in a puddle of sweet artichoke puree; and the most exquisitely prepared steak tartare peppered with capers, celery, pickled onions, and the crunch of homemade crisps. The star of the show though was a perfectly cooked, soft cannon of Hebridean lamb dressed with the anchovy hum of bagna cauda and savoury green olives.

Before you grieve the loss of pasta altogether, let us swiftly reassure you with the in-house pasta room where various shapes are expertly crafted each day. A wonderful potato filled cappelletti that doubled down on the carbs was exactly the type of cosy, cosseting sort of dish that you crave when you need a little lift.

A far cry from the heavy and hearty Italian fare you might expect, Luca has a lightness of touch running through every course. The nuanced, clever dishes mark it out as a real contender in the top echelons of the capital’s occasion dining scene, yet the reassuringly down-to-earth staff and easy atmosphere make it feel like somewhere you’d happily eat every day given half the chance.

Luca is an Italian restaurant located in Farringdon serving high-quality ingredients from around the British Isles and Italy. With a restaurant, bar and outdoor terrace, it’s a multi-faceted dining destination where you can stay, eat and relax for a sit-down dinner, pop in for some drinks and snacks at the bar or enjoy a plate of pasta bathed in sunshine in the stunning courtyard.  

The main dining area offers bright and spacious interiors that marries Italian-meets-art deco design, with red leather banquette seating, wooden floors, exposed brick walls and large light fixtures to illuminate the space. It is here where guests can indulge in Luca’s modern Italian plates all year long. Kick off with a plate of Italian salumi with pickled giardiniera vegetables to nibble on while you decide what to order. Starters include tempting combinations such as burrata with winter panzanella, pickled walnuts and radicchio tardivo, while the ‘primi’ course includes many impressive pasta dishes including tagliatelle of rabbit and pumpkin and amaretti tortelli with sage and pickled chilli. For ‘secondi’, opt for the likes of Hereford beef fillet ribeye with borettane onions and confit garlic.  

When the sun is shining, guests can also reserve a table alfresco in the secluded, foliage-adorned terrace surrounded by olive trees and jasmine. There is even an open fire for when it gets chilly in the evenings. Or, plump for a meal at the bar for an occasion that’s a little more relaxed, where you can order classic Italian cocktails or a glass of wine from one of its many wine-making regions. A range of aperitifs and digestifs are also available, and food can be ordered from the bar's ‘express menu’ for lunch if you want to taste the food but can't stick around for long.