Restaurants are like people, they’re all have different characters, virtues and faults. And just like with people, sometimes you can sense a connection or a quality which evokes respect, and rarely even love. I came close to that feeling the other night at Martino’s. Perhaps it was the décor, or maybe the staff and the food, or it might have been the good looking crowd in the room. Martino’s looks dark and mysterious from the street with its full height blackened plate windows but as the two of us walked through the capsule reception into the restaurant we both knew this was going to be a pleasurable evening. Martino’s is a sister restaurant to Martin Kuczmarski’s highly regarded The Dover, and the Dover Street Counter. What physically connects these restaurants is the décor, all three are designed by the Milan based Studio Drago whose house style and attention to detail is exceptional, creating rooms which cosset the diner and yet function well. Not exactly the Bauhaus adage that ‘form follows function’ but perhaps function follows elegant design – or something cleverer. At Martino’s you enter a room which gives you a sense of a glamorous Rome, the La Dolce Vita version not the Damien Hurst and Caligula on a bender version at Bacchanalia. Martino’s is designed around a large elongated oval bar in the centre, with the tables in its orbit with the wood panelling and the flattering lighting throughout making everyone look a like film star version of themselves.
With a name like Martino’s the cuisine is obviously Italian with a menu which doesn’t test any boundaries as it resolutely leans towards regional Milanese. At the risk of being arrested by the carabinieri at the Italian border that means it serves typical Italian fare. By playing it safe it means there is something for everyone on the menu. We commenced our evening at the bar with cocktails, sitting on the stools watching our fellow diners and the busy bar team at work. At 7pm the restaurant appeared nearly full, including the tables on the outside terrace, Martino’s was buzzing.
Once seated at a corner table, my guest and I shared a tonno tonnato, the tuna pounded to a silky tissue thinness, and a gamberi rossi crudo, the raw red prawn halves in a dressing with tiny pieces of agrodolce onion- both were excellent and yet beautifully simple. It was a good example of the essential culinary truth about keeping recipes simple but using good ingredients and technique.
Main courses were equally good, a well-executed and generously sized veal Milanese, on the bone of course, and a bowl of light moist meatballs in a rich ragu with toast to mop it up with. We rounded the meal off with crespelle al pistachio, thin crepes with pistachio and a crostata al frutti rossi, a shortcrust tart with ripe berries on a custard. Neither were overly sweet and both were ‘moreish’. There’s a good selection of wines by the glass available too, so we enjoyed a glass or two of T’Amo. And of course they do serve pizzas!
The prices at Martino’s are average for this standard of restaurant, quality and service. In my biased opinion if you think around £30 for a main course is too expensive then that’s a rather like going to a gig and having the tallest bloke in London stand in front of you. It’s not their fault they’re tall. You just have to move to another spot. The same applies to restaurants; they can’t control the rents, business rates, wages, taxes, energy and ingredient prices. The higher the standards, the higher the costs. We’d all love to eat out for less and luckily in London there are other options, just not many as glamorous and hospitable as Martino’s. Book a table or a seat at the bar counter and go there to see for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
THE INFORMATION
Address: 37 SLOANE SQUARE, SW1W 8AN – Email: [email protected] – Tel: 02039 087300
Open 7 days a week 08:00-22:30 (last orders) 08:00-22:00 (Sundays)
