Lingering long in the memory – Spagnoletti

FEW people know about Charles Ernest Spagnoletti, an electrical inventor who died more than a century ago. But his memory – and name – have been revived in a chic yet fun Italian restaurant right opposite King’s Cross station.

The restaurant Spagnoletti has relaunched with a new menu – and it’s a cracker. Terrific food is combined with a futuristic interior design that is rather extraordinary to behold.

You step in from the grimy Euston Road to discover a room that boggles the senses. Overhead, a mass of writhing industrial ducts and tubes are painted bright yellow and lit with pulsing LED strips – like the innards of a space rocket, perhaps, or inventor Spagnoletti’s complex electrical circuits.

Lava lamps bubble on the walls; a neon screen by the bar flashes messages such as “Let Time Run Its Course.”

Black and white cartoons dot the walls, lending a sci-fi vibe. In one, a woman clutching a martini exclaims: “I’VE NEVER BEEN TO A PLACE LIKE THIS BEFORE.”

There’s even a nod to their concept of a “flour lab”, with sheafs of wheat and bags of flour on the shelves – the chefs make bread and pasta from scratch.

I went to Spagnoletti with my kids and they loved it. Our waiter, a young man called Abdi, was straight to the point: “There are four pastas that might change your life today.”

He was not far off. The great thing about Spagnoletti is that the food is reasonably priced yet the presentation is top class.

We watched the chefs meticulously plate each dish in the open-plan kitchen – with one even fiddling with his tweezers.

The risotto with shin of beef and bone marrow is only £13. It’s a smallish portion, for sure, but is truly excellent – the gloopy yellow rice spooned on top of a savoury, beefy sauce that will linger long in the memory.

The tortiglioni with prawns and chilli (£12) was also a delight, with a thick, emulsified sauce flecked with herbs and offering a gentle heat.

The bread here is lovely: make sure you order extra to mop up the pasta sauces. We shared a warm sourdough roll, the dough blackened with charcoal and served with a fragrant olive oil.

To start, we shared croquettes on a bed of sauce gribiche and a fine bruschetta spread with some sort of clever mozzarella foam then topped with cherry tomatoes and basil.

We didn’t feel the urge to explore the larger dishes, which included a fermented cauliflower steak with mushroom and truffle for £19 or a veal Milanese for £40.

Instead, we skipped straight to the coconut mousse with chocolate and cherries and a salted caramel ganache with praline and banana.

Spagnoletti is open all day and also serves breakfast. It’s part of a venture that includes the five-star Megaro hotel, the Hokus Pokus bar and the fine dining Voyage restaurant, which is due to open soon.

Spagnoletti,
23 Euston Road, NW1
www.spagnoletti.co.uk
@spagnoletti_