Nationwide Italian chain Zizzi is not exactly the last word in cutting-edge culinary cool, but it’s been quick off the mark to introduce some hot new trends. A range of gelati by Kitty Travers (the artisan ice-cream maker talent-spotted by St John’s Fergus Henderson) and a recently introduced menu of ‘cichetti’ (Italian-style ‘tapas’) as seen at far hipper addresses, are reasons to revisit your local branch. The rest of the menu may not wow, cautions a reader, ‘but it’s nothing to spoil your day’. Pastas are reliable, and the pizzas – some of which come as half and half variations or hybrids – help those stuck between king prawn and spicy sausage or regular pizza and calzone. Zizzi aims to please, and its comfortably rustic, flatteringly lit restaurants usually do just that.