1 Snowden Street
LONDON
EC2A 2DQ 0207 422 7000
To celebrate my 30 (something) birthday, my boyfriend Joe chose to take me back to my roots and treat me to supper at one of Londons most fabulous Italian restaurants L'ANIMA. Its been on our short list for so long but we were waiting an occasion to make us venture into the centre of London's financial district and I love the fact that we used my birthday, as I had no guilt what so ever in my over indulgence. Let me tell you it was worth those extra few stops on the tube and did not fail to to live up to my expectations. L'anima directly translate as 'Soul' And this is definatly the place that makes the soul feel good.
A regular on BBC's Masterchef, head chef and proprietor Francesco Mazzei has divised a menu that brings the unique taste of each region in Italy together. Eating the Octopus A La Plancha which is featured as part of the tasting menu took me right back to the days of eating at my Nonna Maria's in San Savero.
The Rabbit Siciliana was another of the little plates of heaven that can be found on the tasting menu, and Joe's comment after this course was ' I definatly can say that Rabbit is one of my favourite meat dishes of all time!' This dish was so unbelieveable that I could have eaten it five times over as well as the Ricotta Tortelli with black truffle shavings. MMmmmmmmmmmm!!!!
The tasting menu features five key dishes from the a la carte menu and is more then reasonable at £50 per head. So no need to bother deliberating on how you are going to order off such an sublime menu. Now I am supposed to be a bit more grown up as i'm in my 'thirties', I asked the restaurants Sommelier Alessandro Bianchini for some gentle advise on which wine would best accompany our dishes. His recommendation was a corker as was the class he displayed overlooking my giggling at still feeling like a kid acting beyond my years!
The main gist of this establishment is that despite being a vast, clean cut space that caters for a lot of the citys fine diners, it has the ability to make you feel relaxed and unstuffy whatever the occasion.
You feel at ease with cool live music being gently played as a welcome backdrop. A romantic meal here is just as welcome as a business lunch and the staff have the abilty to make you feel special and well attended to. Well, what else would you expect from the Italians??? ( Do I sound patriotic ?? )
If you fancy splashing the cash, you can hire the Private dining room that is situated in the restaurants award winning wine celler (above)
A definate must for the city, and even if you only fancy a nibble. L'anima also welcomes you to their in house bar for a selection of bar snacks and a cocktail or two .
Try the Espresso Martini.... THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD.... I PROMISE!!!
FAVORITE DISH
STRACCIATELLA &RICOTTA TORTELLI, BROWN BUTTER & NORCIA BLACK TRUFFLE
TRY
THE ESPRESSO MARTINI
Brilliant - Love it - want to go there now!! Xx
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