Lina Stores, the veteran Soho deli transformed into a contemporary pasta restaurant group, is to open its long-promised branch on the edge of Clapham Common next month.

The new venue with Lina’s distinctive green and white-striped awning has taken over a prime corner site on The Pavement formerly occupied by St Clair, an ambitious ‘fish boutique’ that featured Peruvian-Japanese Nikkei cuisine and launched with unfortunate timing just before the pandemic.

Lina’s was founded in Brewer Street in 1944, and was one of Soho’s few surviving Italian delis when it spun out its first restaurant five years ago, with backing from Chris Miller’s White Rabbit Projects. It now has offshoots in King’s Cross, Marylebone and the City, as well as two satellites in Tokyo.

The new Clapham branch – the first south of the river – will open for lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday, plus breakfast at the weekends. The menu revolves around pasta made daily on site and antipasti from Lina’s deli range, which includes more than 40 cold meats.

Lina Stores Clapham was first mooted back in September 2021, but a move into the premises vacated by the closure of The Dairy, also on The Pavement, fell through.