Peckham’s Artusi Italian restaurant is making a leap to the West End with the opening this evening of a spinoff in Theatreland.

Artusi Soho has taken over the site vacated by Cafe Kitty in the Underbelly Boulevard theatre – where it will offer pre-theatre menus between 5 and 7pm at £25 for 2 courses and £30 for 3, along with fresh pasta and and a four-course ‘family feast’.

One of the pioneer restaurants behind the emergence of Peckham as a culinary destination over the past 10 years, Artusi has established a strong reputation for seasonal Italian cooking described as “impeccable” in the Harden’s guide.

It is named after Pellegrino Artusi, who wrote a classic 19th-century tome on Italian cuisine, while its sister venue across southeast London in Deptford is named Marcella – after Marcella Hazan, his 20th-century equivalent.