Page 264 - The Bite Magazine - Issue 11

If you’re looking for somewhere simple,
intimate and fuss-free to dine, away
from the hustle and bustle of the city,
you may just find this in Sandy’s Row.This
narrow and quietly tucked away street
is the home of La Tagliata, a brand new
Italian restaurant located near Liverpool
Street that offers authentic and traditional
Italian dishes from the region of Tuscan.
La Tagliata opened in July this year with a
concept born out of an Italian passion for
food, hospitality and life. The restaurant
is managed by Carlo Palumbo, an ex-city
banker who discovered his real passion
while studying to be a Cordon Bleu chef.
He explains,“It has always been my dream
to create a restaurant where you are not
confronted by endless menu choices. We
focus on a few dishes with the aim to
deliver consistently the highest quality.”
Executive chef, Antonio Tonelli said to be
inspired by working in kitchens in southern
Italy from the age of 13, trained at theVilla
Santa Maria chef school. He has over 25
years’ experience of cooking all over the
world, exploring various cuisines, culinary
techniques and ingredients. However, his
true passion lies in simple and elegant,
fresh Italian cuisine. He says, “Nothing is
more important to Italians than good food.
LaTagliata for me represents home, a place
you go back for good, honest cooking and
a convivial family atmosphere…”
There is no doubt at all that La Tagliata
gives off a sense of homeliness as soon as
you walk through the door. You’ll notice
immediately that the restaurant is well
lit, minimalistic and comfortably plush
with a laid back ambience mixed with
contemporary design that nods to an
Italian villa. At first glance, it appears very
small but once you discover the number
of rooms it holds, you’ll be very pleasantly
surprised. Diners have the choice of being
seated in any of the several rooms: from
the Dispensa (pantry), Salotto (drawing
room) or Studio (study), to the Sala da
Pranzo (dining room), Biblioteca (library),
Cantina (wine cellar) and Salla della
Musica (music room), all seating up to 10
people each. One of the first things that
caught my eye were the violins hanging
on the wall, having not realised at first
that we were standing in the music room.
Looking around, you’ll notice quirky
touches such as bespoke Modigliani-style
paintings and bottle-lined walls, as well as
bookshelves laden with classic tomes and
cubbyholes with vintage pasta machines.
The restaurant also offers some exciting
discoveries including the Library with its
wardrobe-style door, the Drawing Room
with a secret bookshelf entrance and the
Wine Cellar with an open doorway which
is ideal for those wanting a secluded space
for private events.
When we arrived, we were greeted by
manager Carlo Palumbo who seated us
in the Dining Room where we could see
a handful of people walking by. La Tagliata
offers a very simple but interesting set
menu consisting of a two-course or three-
course meal or if you just want something
small, you can choose to have a main
instead. Before our starter, we enjoyed
an assortment of bread: white loaf, Italian
focaccia and five cereal roll served with
olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip and a glass
of Ortonese Malvasia-Chardonnay 2012,
a medium bodied terapia (white) wine.
Currently, there is only one starter on the
menu:Tagliatelle, long, flat ribbons of pasta
made fresh daily with a choice of seasonal
sauces: pomodoro (tomato), pesto or
limone (lemon). We decided to try the
Tagliatelle with pesto and lemon in a bid to
introduce our palate to new flavours. The
pesto added an interesting and distinctive
taste to the pasta that played nicely on the
palate while the lemon gave it a refreshing
and tangy twist. The main course consists
of a meat or vegetarian option but we
decided to try both. LaTagliata isn’t just the
name of the restaurant but also the name
of their signature dish, a traditional Tuscan
dish.The British beef sirloin sourced from
a family-run Smithfield butcher, is cooked
and sliced in the Italian way, and then
served on a bed of rocket, parmesan and
cherry tomatoes with balsamic reduction.
We had ours medium rare which was
quite nice and tender, with distinctive
flavours shining through. For vegetarians,
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