The top line: Irish chef Luke Ahearne, formerly of Michelin-starred Lita in Marylebone, has joined forces with Stevie Parle, the chef-owner of the recently-opened Town and pasta restaurant Pastaio, and restaurant investor Jonathan Downey to open this slick modern London-Italian restaurant in Fitzrovia.
On the menu: Motorino’s menu conforms to the idea of serving fewer, better dishes rather than taking a wider approach often found in Italian restaurants. The result is a tight selection of well-sourced snacks, including a light and bouncy Wildfarmed focaccia with rosemary, butter and olive oil; marinated olives; and top notch salumi from Tom Adams’ Coombeshead Farm, and four options each under the starters and primi sections - of which standout dishes are a chopped dexter with fermented green chilli and porcini ketchup with shoestring fries balanced atop; burrata with a five-variety tomato carpaccio, and salted anchovy; an agnolotti carbonara; and pappardelle with Wildfarmed beef ragù and pecorino. Mains such as a Hereford 35-day flank and 45-day Belted Galloway that each come with either a chianti or peppercorn sauce; and slow-cooked beef cheek with peppercorns and polenta are hearty and suit the incoming colder weather. The drinks list has some of Downey’s fingerprints on it - as one might expect from the man behind the success of London’s Milk & Honey among other projects - in terms of its breadth but also sensible pricing (cocktails on the list are between £9 and £12). The bar has seven beers on draught as well as cocktails such as the olive negroni, made with Manguin Olive gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth; and the Dill Boy Martini that mixes Chase vodka with dill aquavit and dry vermouth. Like the menu, the wine list is concise (ish) but well put together, with wines from £38 to £180 and predominantly from Europe, although a Wild Irishman pinot noir from New Zealand has snuck onto the list.
The vibe: Fans of Town, which Parle opened in Covent Garden earlier this year, will have a sense of familiarity when walking through the doors of Motorino with its striking kitchen pass area that feels both seventies and space age at the same time. Yet if anything Motorino is even more beautiful with its various colour drenching as you move through the long room, with dark green walls and leather seating giving way to browns and reds. It’s also a surprisingly big space, with a large bar area to the left of the entrance as you walk in, and a separate smaller bar to the rear of the room by the pass for a more intimate post prandial drink, and two spacious private dining rooms. Motorino is an Italian word that means moped or scooter, but the restaurant itself has an altogether more grown up feel, and a more powerful engine to it.
And another thing: The restaurant is next door to the beautiful Fitzrovia Chapel and it can open its doors between the dining room and the chapel. Any couple who get married in the chapel and have their reception at Motorino will get a small portrait of themselves hung on the nearby wall (recently married Downey has started the ball rolling with a picture of him and his new wife on the wall).
1 Pearson Square, London, W1T 3BF / //motorino.london/