Bocca di Lupo
GIRO D’ITALIA
I need to make a confession… I’m already a huge fan. It’s my seventh visit over the last ten years, having brought family, friends and clients… and the BOCCA cookbook is one of the more heavily thumbed and food-stained in my collection. But it’s been over two years since the last visit, seven months since we last ate out and it’s the focus for an overdue trip to visit our daughter.
As a family we’re pining for Italy and this place always manages to transport us there… it’s in their DNA; stripped back Italian regional dishes, using the very finest ingredients, often simply cooked. And there’s no particular interest in satisfying the needs of ‘Instagram diners’ either.
Arriving early for our 1.30 table, it’s great to see it rammed; both the back dining room and counter seats running along the long marble counter, overlooking the open plan kitchen. It’s wonderfully easy on the eye and manages to feel contemporary whilst also seeming like it’s been here for decades; it’s a blueprint for ‘effortlessly cool’.
Its usual energy is being amplified higher than usual by expectant diners all revelling in this first opportunity to eat out in months. It means I’m momentarily disappointed as we’re led away downstairs (having previously always dined upstairs) but arriving at our table, with the same buzz of contented diners, my grin soon returns.
Downstairs dining room
We all kick off with an Aperol Spritz and I get stuck into the order having had all the responsibility for food passed onto me… with my reputation? What are they thinking!? It’s a menu with options of big or small plates; you could easily pick a starter, main and dessert, but I’m not interested in that… I want it all.
First there’s squid, so perfectly fried it’s tender as butter, in a light, almost crumbly batter and thinly sliced, crisp-fried pin wheels of lemon providing a delightful sour crunch. Calamari is a dish that’s fallen so horribly into disrepute, I rarely order it elsewhere, but here it demonstrates the Bocca way of simple perfection.
Squid & lemon slices (Veneto)
More fried perfection arrives with artichokes alla Giudia (the Jewish style)—perfectly crisp on the outside and beautifully melting in the middle—and courgette flowers—with light crunch from yeast-risen batter, sweetness from the flower, stuffed with the creaminess of the molten mozzarella, and a salty umami kiss from the anchovy dissolving in the residual heat.
Courgette flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovy (Rome)
Next up is ‘today’s special’ sea bream carpaccio … ceviche Italian style, delicately flavoured from orange zest and rosemary oil. It’s quite simply one of those dishes I have to order when it’s on the menu here.
Sea Bream carpaccio with orange & rosemary (Veneto)
Then two pastas arrive; rigatoni with sheep ricotta, broad beans & basil—a sweet and creamy plate of heaven—and a vibrant green nettle pappardelle with a lamb ragù that slows my chewing right down to work out how to try and replicate this at home.
Rigatoni with sheep ricotta, broad beans & basil (Lazio)
With a dwindling bottle of Soave Classico, I move onto a Piedirosso for what feels like it should be the final push, although I suspect we’re only about halfway. The aubergine parmigiana provides a significant new benchmark for me to aim towards at home; I thought mine was world class but this in a different league.
Nettle pappardelle with ragù (Abruzzo)
And then two dishes from their selection of pig & mix off the grill; a slab of suckling pig porchetta and two bombette—rolled pork shoulder in breadcrumbs—the latter are too dry and could have been sent back, although on the table are three more plates of food, so it’s not like we need any more.
Courgette trifolate - sautéed with chilli & parsley (Lazio)
It’s a trio of vegetable dishes featuring courgette trifolate—the light green, sweet heavily ridged variety—sautéed with chilli & parsley; a wonderfully sweet and sour caponata; and braised peas, tropea onions and basil, ensuring we’ve at least all managed our full five a day each.
Braised peas, tropea onions & basil (Calabria)
We’re fairly catatonic whilst our table is being cleared and then a waitress arrives with a forgotten plate of galetto (cockerel) in spring panzanella, before immediately spinning a perfect 180° pirouette to return it to the kitchen… and we all breathe a sigh of relief.
With my appetite reluctant to come off the stool for the last round, there’s nothing quite grabbing me from the list of dolci, but I am a sucker for dessert wine—something I’ve long considered one of the very high points of Western Civilisation (although to be fair most of those include booze).
I opt for le palle del nonno (Grandad’s balls) and they arrive looking as you’d expect, but thankfully turn out to be gorgeously crispy coated deep fried balls of sweetened ricotta, mixed through with chocolate and orange.
Le palle del nonno ‘grandad’s balls’ (Nonno / grandma)
The girls have both gone for espressos but I’m now feeling in full holiday mode, looking for even more booze and strangely drawn in by the sight of ‘Albertino’ on the sweetened coffees list, ‘corrected with Campari’… it genuinely sounds disgusting but my complete faith in everything Bocca di Lupo is duly rewarded. There’ll definitely be a bottle of Campari on this week’s shopping order.
With two sparkling waters and 12.5% service charge the bill comes in at £217.24… not bad for an afternoon spent in Italy.
I’m holiday-lunchtime squiffy too. Perfetto.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
12 Archer Street, Soho, London W1D 7BB
