Located in the heart of Belsize Park, Terra Moderna is an Antipodean-inspired, modern take on an Italian restaurant with the most atmospheric of settings. Small and intimate, this gorgeous eatery enjoys sophisticated, refined decor in calming, earthy colours. Its perfectly-pitched low lighting creates a warm glow that fosters a lovely environment for date night, overdue catch ups and special occasions.
The kitchen is helmed by the talented Michelin-trained chef Mirko Pisano who has curated a menu around using the freshest ingredients to amplify the restaurant's concept. Across the menu you'll find an array of seafood, meat and plant-based produce, but plates always favour bold flavours that sing of the seasons.
While the menu changes to suit the produce readily available, an example of what you might expect to taste includes dishes such as octopus carpaccio with lemon emulsion and rucola alongside panzanella salad, stracciatella, heritage tomatoes and vincotto to start. For mains, you might find grilled rib-eye steak with bone marrow butter and fries or linguine with clams, chilli and lemon oil. All of this can be deliciously accompanied by sides of creamy mashed potato with walnut butter, heritage tomatoes with basil oil and rucola with Parmesan.
For dessert, prepare yourself for the likes of chocolate delice with almond and rasberry or pavlova with passion fruit, mango and sable buiscuit, washed down with a curated selection of dessert wines. Speaking of which, Terra Moderna takes great pride in its wine list and has brought together a robust offering of whites, reds and roses from across (mainly) Italy, New Zealand and Australia, as is the theme.
Vegan guests are more than welcome here, too, and there's a plant-based menu for those who want it. Here, you can try such delights as spinach and mushroom pithivier with tarragon cream and truffle arancini with shiitake mushroom ketchup.