Latest news with #diningExperience
The Guardian
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Barbarella, London E14: ‘A large scoop of Lady Gaga does House of Gucci' – restaurant review
The Big Mamma group's gargantuan, flamboyant, frothily decorated pleasure palaces, which have grown rapidly across London – from Gloria in Shoreditch to Circolo Popolare in Fitzrovia and from Avo Mario in Covent Garden to Jacuzzi in Marylebone, among others – not to mention across Europe in general, tend to cause earnest food sorts to sigh wearily. If the lofty scofferati could have found a way to scupper Big Mamma's growth, they probably would have, because these restaurants are unashamedly focused on big, sexy, silly and Italian-inspired fun. The dining rooms are styled with the chaotic yet elegant detail of a big-budget movie set; no two are remotely the same, but each branch is connected by dependably over-the-top Italian serving staff, usually male and every one of them determined to be your best friend all the way from the antipasti to the dolci, even if your stiff British mentality fights their displays of chumminess. The latest Big Mamma opening, Barbarella in Canary Wharf, east London, is no different, and features all of those elements with which we've become so familiar: the tall, wobbly lemon meringue pie, the camp banquettes, the huge flappy menu with 100-plus items all written in Italian and in a teensy-tiny red font. At Barbarella, there are also oversized sculptures, vintage Fiorucci in glass display cases and, vibe-wise, a large scoop of Gaga does House of Gucci. Why are clever food people so sniffy about Big Mamma, despite its restaurants being full to the brim every night? Well, there are two reasons: first, Barbarella and her sisters are determinedly fun; almost forced fun, if we're completely honest. Just try telling your server that you're not here to have a laugh, but instead have come for a sparse, sensible, calorie-counting meal, so there's no need for a double martini or to be spooned tiramisu from a huge bowl by a winking man from Sicily called Gianluca. They just won't understand you. The second, and possibly more logical reason for the raised eyebrows is because – let's cut to the chase – the food in all of these restaurants isn't always terribly good and is sometimes actively awful. Not that you'll ever cajole any of the staff into admitting that: 'This tiramisu is my favourite tiramisu in the world, even better than my own nonna's,' is just one line directed at me at Barbarella. The staff simply cannot break character, so all the pasta is, according to them at least, 'freshly made this hour' and 'better than they serve in the village I come from in Italy'. Every T-bone steak is the juiciest and every brunello on the extensive wine-list is the most thoughtfully sourced. You've more chance of seeing Mickey Mouse at the front of a Disney parade with his headpiece off and smoking a Marlboro than hear a Barbarella server admit that this food is just OK – and hugely overpriced, too. Not that you'd really want that, either. Barbarella, like all of these places, is about escapism, boisterous group dining and being swept up in the moment, with someone else – a lover, a boss, a father-in-law – hopefully picking up the hefty bill afterwards. Lunching here stone-cold sober is a real eye-opener. I've only ever been to a Big Mamma restaurant while a bit tipsy, but here I'm being served a £24 plate of 'millefoglie di patate con tartare di manzo e tartufo', or a sort of cold fried potato rösti with a spoon of unseasoned beef tartare that's not remotely delicious. A courgette and cheese insalata limps on to my table hoping for love, but it's another hopeless state of affairs. This is not good courgette, these are not pleasant croutons. Next up, lobster linguine for £36 in a thick, one-note bisque sauce and with half a lobster on top – fine, but nothing earth-shattering. A £38 fillet steak with green peppercorn sauce is by some distance the most delicious thing we eat, and comes with a side of actually great rosemary potatoes. Then again, it's also probably the least Italian thing on the menu. But the tiramisu is, as ever, rich, thick, cocoa-covered and comes with that timeworn trick of offering a second scoop to denote largesse. Upstairs is the place to sit, it being the room with all the movie-star glamour; downstairs is, dare I say, a little less exciting. But, from my seat by the till (not somewhere I wanted to linger) and having to move plates about to make them fit on a tiny table that's about as big as one of the pizzas, there's just something about Barbarella that left me a little cold. Perhaps glamour isn't supposed to be practical. The wild Italian party continues in Canary Wharf regardless, but I don't think I'll be running back for a scoop of gelato any time soon. Barbarella Unit 3, YY London, 30 South Colonnade, London E14 (no phone). Open all week, noon-midnight. From about £40 a head à la carte, plus drinks and service. The next episode of Grace's Comfort Eating podcast is out on Tuesday 15 July – listen to it here.
The Guardian
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Lapin, Bristol: ‘We're not in Cafe Rouge now' – restaurant review
The French, at least at one stage in culinary history, would not have balked at eating the entire cast of Watership Down in a robust dijon sauce. The British, on the other hand, have always been rather less keen, so it was surprising to hear reports that Lapin, a new French restaurant in Bristol, had been struggling to keep fluffy bunnies on its classic, single-sheet menu due to supply reasons, apparently because its game dealer couldn't shoot them quickly enough to meet Lapin's demand. Instead, its diners had had to settle for confit duck leg, coarse sausage and deep-fried pig's head. Lapin patently aims to offer actual French cooking, albeit stopping short of the likes of pungent andouillette, complete with its tubey innards escaping on to the plate. That said, I'd bet that chef Jack Briggs-Horan and restaurateur Dan O'Regan tinkered with the idea before accepting that serving something quite so smelly in a small, repurposed shipping container was probably one Gallic step too far. I've mentioned Bristol's love of delis and dining spots in former shipping containers before, and here we are again at Lapin, gasping at how, with a little imagination and clever sleight of hand, you can turn an impersonal iron box into a tiny slice of France. The walls are painted a calm, elegant sage-green, there's a dinky little drinks trolley and a prix-fixe menu up on the wall – £29 for three courses – all while France Gall coos Ella, Elle l'a coquettishly over the speakers. I went with Charles, my longsuffering sidekick and a man of French stock, and watched as, after a short debate in French about the booze-free aperitif offering, the French server ended up bringing him a bright green glass of sweet, minty diabolo, which is the taste of Charles' childhood. 'OK,' I thought to myself, 'you guys are good at this stuff. We're not in Cafe Rouge now.' As we waited for some cheese-stacked comté gougeres with custardy insides and baguette with a mountain of whipped cod's roe, it dawned on me that, although rabbit didn't feature among the entrees that day (there's usually some rillettes), there were tiny, subtle rabbit motifs on the tableware, the servers' jackets, the wine list and the table. To me, these understated Donnie Darko touches were a delight. Would I recommend Lapin? On the whole, yes, because this is a menu that could thaw the iciest of hearts. Who can resist chunky asparagus with sauce gribiche and beurre noisette, or a very good, fluffily light, but rich-with-gruyère souffle Suissesse? Both were charming to look at and to eat. I erred, however, by ordering the chicken schnitzel with madeira jus, because, although it was crisp, hot, generous and came with an oyster mushroom and a chicken wing, it was a little one-note – that note being 'fried' – unlike the colourful Provençal fish stew filled with mullet, prawns and mussels I saw being delivered to other tables. Lapin's menu might even trip you up. Take the gnocchi Parisienne: if you'd ordered it expecting a sedate plate of Italian-style potato bullets, then buckle up: these gnocchi mean business, because these are plump, fluffy, choux pastry parcels in a stew of braised courgette, mint and creme fraiche. They were also that day's sole vegetarian main-course option, which was possibly the least French part of the meal, because the French feel about vegetarians roughly the same as Queen Victoria allegedly did about lesbians: they've vaguely heard of the concept, but don't fully believe they really exist. Rather boldly, Lapin also offers to add a 5g spoon of caviar or a scoop of Rollright cheese to any dish for an extra cost (£13 and £7, respectively), which is a nifty little way of turning even the most saintly dish into some arch you-time. We skipped the part of the menu marked trou normand, offering a traditional palate-cleansing glass of apple cider brandy with apple sorbet for £8, and sailed headlong into desserts, where Basque cheesecake sits side by side with the éclair du jour, which on this occasion was lemon meringue; pain perdu, that rib-sticking classic, was also on offer, served with vanilla ice-cream and apple. An almost impossible decision, and one complicated further by a St Émilion au chocolat in which the rich chocolate cream met crushed amaretti biscuits soaked in sherry. Lapin is a peculiar, meta, slightly earnest, definitely delicious French restaurant that you would never, ever find in France – not least because no one in France would be seen dead eating in an old metal box. But Bristolians are lucky to have it. It's only early days, and they're still finding their feet, but mange tout, Rodders, mange tout. Lapin Unit 14, Cargo 2, Museum Street, Bristol BS1, 0117-408 4997. Open lunch Fri & Sat, noon-3.30pm (10pm Sun); dinner Tues-Sat 5.30-10pm; Sun noon-8pm. From about £55 a head à la carte; three-course prix fixe menu £29, all plus drinks and service The next episode of Grace's Comfort Eating podcast is out on Tuesday 15 July – listen to it here
News.com.au
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Melbourne restaurant owner explodes at customers
A dramatic video has emerged of a heated altercation at one of Melbourne's trendiest Italian restaurants after chef and owner Pietro Barbagallo confronted a group of diners who complained their prawn pasta was too spicy. The incident, which took place in April but has only recently gone viral, occurred at Kaprica in Carlton – an eatery that is currently trending thanks to TikTok. On the night in question, the group ordered wine and starters, but when the prawn pasta main arrived, a customer claimed it was too spicy. At some point during the incident, one of the diners decided to record a video message for his boyfriend, complaining about the meal. 'I literally had like, the chilliest food tonight, and it was so spicy,' the unidentified man told the camera, footage of which was later published by The Age. The situation reportedly escalated when chef Barbagallo was informed about the customers' complaint and became enraged. He then appeared behind the group as the man was recording the video. 'Really? Really you have to do that?' he could be heard saying in the clip. The confused customer responded, 'What's wrong?' but Barbagallo's tone quickly shifted. 'This is what you're doing in my restaurant, in my house,' he said. The customer appeared shocked and replied, 'This is so abusive'. Barbagallo then demanded the group leave the restaurant. 'You get out now,' he demanded. According to the footage, the chef attempted to grab the recording phone and then yanked at the tablecloth, collecting the plates within it and sending some crashing to the floor. 'Turn that f***ing phone off! You and your f***ing phone!' Barbagallo shouted at the group. 'Get out of my f***ing restaurant!' The Age interviewed five eyewitnesses about the incident. One witness claimed the pasta dish was 'inedible' due to the overwhelming chilli flavour. 'All the pasta was running down the wall,' the witness reported. During the confrontation, people outside the venue said they could hear 'yelling and screaming'. One bystander even thought 'a homeless person was in there attacking someone'. At one point, two witnesses claimed they saw a chair fly out of the front door towards the customer. A waitress was also allegedly seen exiting the restaurant in tears. Inside, the mood quickly turned sombre. 'The music was playing but everyone was shocked and disturbed,' said one witness. 'It became incredibly awkward,' another added. has reached out to Kaprica for comment. At the time of publication, Kaprica has not issued any official statement or apology regarding the incident. Barbagallo is no stranger to the Melbourne restaurant scene. He first made his mark in 1998 when he opened I Carusi in Brunswick East, which was later hailed as the birthplace of Melbourne's 'pizza revolution'. He went on to open I Carusi II in St Kilda and, more recently, Kaprica in Carlton South. Despite his influence, Barbagallo has faced personal and professional challenges. In 2011, he experienced financial problems, which led to the closure of his venues on Lonsdale Street and his departure from the I Carusi brand.
The Independent
09-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Pret plans mega-stores in bid to encourage people to dine in
Pret a Manger is set to introduce a new store format featuring made-to-order food and expanded dining areas, as part of an initiative to speed up its regional growth throughout the UK. The sandwich and coffee chain, long favoured by London commuters, aims to create an inviting atmosphere for customers to dine in and relax. This adjustment also reflects the increasing prevalence of remote working. With a current portfolio of 500 locations across the UK, Pret is testing the new format in Broughty Ferry near Dundee, and Maidenhead, Berkshire. It said this would differentiate from the format of most of its London stores, where it primarily sells 'grab-and-go' products, with customers typically served in less than a minute. It has developed an exclusive menu for the shops, where much of its menu is made to order, there is more space for dine-in customers and it will operate a Little Stars Cafe play area for families with young children. The move is part of efforts by Pret to expand beyond London, with the vast majority of its recent coffee shop openings taking place outside the capital. Clare Clough, Pret's managing director for UK & Europe, said: 'Throughout the past five years, we've made it a priority to bring Pret to more people, whether you're a City worker commuting to the office, a parent juggling work and family life, or someone catching up with friends. 'Now, we're taking that further, making Pret a destination for customers in a bit less of a rush who want a comfortable space to enjoy delicious food and spend time with family and friends. 'Our teams have been hard at work making sure everything from the shop design to the unique menu items have been carefully thought through and we can't wait to see how our customers respond.' The business was founded in London in 1986 by Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham. It was bought by German investor JAB Holdings in 2018 for around £1.5 billion. Last week, JAB said it could consider selling a stake in the sandwich chain ahead of a potential stock market flotation.
Arab News
03-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Arab News
Where We Are Going Today: ‘Amigos' — Mexican dining in Riyadh
If you are seeking a Mexican dining experience in Riyadh, look no further than Amigos. Stepping in felt like a warm hug from an old friend. The restaurant has maintained its charm over the years, and aside from some new touches, the heart and soul of Amigos remains as it was. The ambiance is simple and unpretentious, reminiscent of a small-town cantina. So, if hearty, soul-warming Mexican food is what you crave, this is the place to be. During my recent visit, we indulged in a variety of dishes, including nachos, shrimp tacos, chicken quesadilla and even a hot dog. Each item left me feeling eager to return for more. The homemade nacho chips, guacamole and salsa were delightful, and the quality of the beef was exceptional. Every bite was just like I remembered. I also tried a meat taco, which could have been better with some toppings like avocado and sour cream. The meal came with fried potatoes and rice, though I found the nachos a bit lacking in quantity. I visited Amigos based on a recommendation and was impressed by the ambiance and the food. The staff were also attentive, making for a wonderful dining experience. We left completely satisfied. While the portions could be larger for the price — about SR50 riyals ($13) for a decent burrito or SR40 for tacos — the quality makes it worthwhile. For those raised in Riyadh, Amigos represents a soulful corner of the city that stays evergreen.
