Prolific Mayfair-based restaurateur Samyukta Nair is to open her first Italian restaurant next week – Nipotina, an all-day family-oriented neighbourhood venue in South Audley Street. Turin-born chef Somaia Hammad (right in photograph) will lead the kitchen, while Luca Dusi (left), of Passione Vino in Shoreditch, has assembled a wine list featuring small and artisanal producers from […]

Continue reading


Edinburgh sommelier James Clark (left in picture) launches his debut project today (4 October) – Sotto, a wine bar and restaurant in Stockbridge that celebrates Italian food and wine. Sotto – meaning ‘under’ or ‘beneath’, a reference to the under-street cellar where the wines are stored – comprises an upstairs ‘enoteca’ and a ground-level trattoria led by Calabrian-born Francesco […]

Continue reading


The French-owned, fantasy Italian Big Mamma group is to open its first UK restaurant outside London in Birmingham, taking over the former Vinoteca site in the Paradise development on Chamberlain Square. La Bellezza, a 150-cover trattoria with a 25-seat terrace, launches later this year and follows Gloria (pictured), Jacuzzi, Circolo Popolare, Ave Mario and Carlotta, […]

Continue reading