spuntino is soho snack star!

yesterday my food friends and i made our way excitedly to a preview of spuntino – the 3rd restaurant in a series of soho food successes for owners russell norman and richard beatty also of polpo and polpetto. great friend and spuntino chef extraordinaire rachel o’sullivan has hit the nail on the fun, fabulous food head by designing and dishing up a menu of italian-new york inspired eats that are as refreshing in their flavours as they are on your pocket.

we started our feasting with the hot salty goodness of stuffed fried olives – the perfect bar snack, the masterly crafted egg & soldiers and the eggplant chips, fennel yoghurt – the last being one of my favourite flavours from the day – just do it. next up came the truffled egg toast, sexy and sophisticated eggs for any time of the day – washed down with a glass of prosecco, you’ll be laughing.

the mac & cheese was cooked to perfection and i hear through a good source that this will be a staple but with a series of different ingredients to tantalize your taste-buds. now onto the sliders, these mini hamburgers are sure to be a house specialty and one you wont want to share with your fellow diners – the ground beef and bone marrow were gobbled with glee by my meaty friends , my fish slider was a spicy, moist couple of mackerel mouthfuls – dainty and delicious. more exciting plates to come our way included the calamari, chickpeas, ink – another favourite, softshell crab, tabasco aioli – you can’t go wrong with this choice and the braised chicory & speck which my meaty friends gave 5 stars.

now if i can give one word of advice, leave room for desert – especially the decadent peanut butter & jelly sandwich. a smart concoction by the chef of on an old elvis favourite, the marriage of flavours here will have you crooning with delight. not forgetting the simply elegant pineapple, liquorice ice-cream, have both. everything about this place is dare i say it…sexy – from the food and especially so!, great cocktail makers – get yourself a zesty sazerac served prohibition style in a tea-cup, through the speak-easy interior to the location smack bang in soho’s XXX district. don’t book – you can’t. just go and be quick about it. london is having a great food revolution it seems, spuntino assures me of that.

great design details abound at spuntino – glazed bricks, a wonderfully rusted metal ceiling, re-discovered and original tile-work, reclaimed diner stools and wire cage light shades.