What’s new? The five-star Baglioni Hotel London opposite Kensington Gardens has breathed new life into its lobby, bar and restaurant (formerly Brunello) with the launch of its cosmopolitan new Italian restaurant, Osteria 60.
Behind the scenes? Indian entrepreneurs Kanav Puri and Suraj Mehra have on side an all-Italian team in chef Ivan Simeoli, restaurant director Francesco Tatulli and sommelier Giovanni Rapagnani. Simeoli brings his seven years with Oliver Peyton (he was head chef at the Wallace Collection) and four years at the ‘World’s 50 Best’ regular Osteria Francescana; Rapagnani has worked at Galvin La Chapelle and Novikov; and Tatulli contributes a bit of Mayfair swagger from his postings at the Arts Club and Novikov’s Rififi Club.
The concept: Italian design firm Rebosio + Spagnulo (whose approach to contemporary grandeur is on show at the Four Seasons Residences, Marrakech and Kempinski Residences, St Moritz) have turned to the traditional Milanese trattorias of the 1950s for inspiration. Osteria 60’s textured gold walls, bronze pendant lights and and ochre chairs are a far cry from traditional, but I could imagine a latterday Sinatra, a broad on each arm, repairing to a slick ristorante of this type after-hours. Certainly the energetic Balearic soundtrack that played during our visit would seem better suited to night owls than to ladies-who-lunch. (“I feel harassed”, said my chum, bobbing to the beat over her ravioli.) A central bar has space for 15 for aperitivi and a casual menu, though on a sunny day, the terrace facing Kensington Gardens winks seductively.
What’s cooking? Simeoli does those Italian dishes no Italian restaurant would be without – minestrone, carpaccio, lasagne and parmigiana and so on, but does them his way. He outdoes the average Italian mamma with his ragù, cooking it gently for 36 hours, and topping it with soft slivers of raw beef – a surprisingly successful addition. Innovative touches figure elsewhere in a cooling smoked cucumber and buttermilk gazpacho with wild garlic and a spiky, sculptural strawberry dessert with shards of dried strawberries (a few more fresh ones wouldn’t have gone amiss, it being the season).
Signature dishes: The Osteria 60 calamari with tomato and mozzarella elicited a shudder from my purist, Italophile chum who approves of seafood and cheese under no circumstances whatsoever. I’m OK with it, though I can’t say that the rather lovely lemony salad of tagliatelle-like ribbons of sous-vide squid wouldn’t have been better without mozzarella and bitter padron peppers. There’s also an Osteria 60 tiramisu which I could tell you about had I not switched off, as I always do, at the mere mention of the word ‘deconstructed’.
Best for: Aperitivi. The central bar, beneath a cluster of gold Tom Dixon Melt lights, is the beating heart of the restaurant.
Osteria 60, Baglioni Hotel, 60 Hyde Park Gate, SW7 5BB020 7937 8886
