The deets: Located in a corner site on Manette Street, the Forza Wine Soho is the restaurant under the brand, joining sites in Peckham and at the National Theatre. The 100-cover restaurant has a 70-cover outdoor space making it the largest site that owners Bash Redford and Michael Lavery have opened.
The food: Like its siblings, the Soho restaurant serves an ever-changing menu of ‘Italian-ish’ food that comprises just 12 dishes. Dishes currently on the menu include Genovese ragu and fried polenta; ussels, agretti, cream and smoked chilli; potatoes, pancetta, butter and lemon; and pork tenderloin, cabbage and mustard. Desserts, meanwhile, include malted milk soft serve, hazelnut olive oil cake with crème fraiche; and Forza’s signature Custardo - a drinkable crème anglaise spiked with a shot of espresso. Dishes start at £3 for bread and butter and rise to £20 for the pork tenderloin but many sit within the £8 to £17 price bracket making it a good value restaurant for Soho, and the whole menu can be ordered for £145 including four soft serves or Custardos, meaning that customers “can eat a lot of food for around £35 each”, according to Lavery. Drinks wise, there’s a strong cocktail list of around 15 options while wines have been chosen so that any chemical intervention in the process of their creation is minimal, with a generous but not over complicated list of sparkling, orange, chilled red, reds and white on offer. The duo recommend kicking things off with a ‘Forza Fiver’ - a welcome drink of dry white English vermouth priced at £5.
The vibe: Forza’s clean, bright, modern design sets it apart from much of Soho as well as the handful of other Italian restaurants to have opened in the capital over the past few months (Tiella, Burro, Osteria Vibrato) that is reflective of Forza’s fun approach to restaurant. Designed by London-based architects Gundry + Ducker elements include floor-to-ceiling windows, a mirrored ceiling, and a striking green floor. As summer approaches it looks set to become a hot dining spot for Soho.
And another thing: Downstairs will eventually be home to a separate light night bar and events space designed to appeal to Soho drinkers as well as the theatre crowd, tying in with Forza’s other location at the National Theatre.
forzawine.com / Manette Street, London, W1D 4AL