La Cucina Di Ciro
In an environment where everything is about the pursuit of the modern and the new, here’s the heady combination of a man with a past, a place with patina.
Ciro Molinaro’s past comes with serious credentials. Three-star Michelen work in France, and before La Cucina, around seven years at a restaurant a ragout’s throw from where he is now. And a Top Tenner in 2002.
Ciro says he moved so that he could concentrate on catering, giving himself a respite from the grind of managing the business of a restaurant. The reprieve didn’t last long, Ciro buckled under popular demand and his regular following started to flow through the door, occupying initially a small space which has organically grown to what he has now: a friendly, bustling place, unpretentious but with wonderfully idiosyncratic touches.
Overhead, exotic cut-out oversized lampshades serve as chandeliers, casting whimsical patterns over the packed interior. Robust wrought iron chandeliers, paddle fans, large windows onto summer sidewalks. High ceilings that cleverly echo happy voices. The place is cosy in winter, with tables and chairs on the sidewalk of a tree-lined side street in summer.
Half of the interior of the bustling restaurant is for diners, who flocked with glee once Ciro decided – albeit reluctantly – to open eves as well. The other half, equally bustling with kitchen staff that move with and past each other much like the support cast in an Italian opera.
This isn’t a man for front-of-house wafting about. Ciro himself is very hands-on, lunch and dinner – and whatever is required in between.
I would say Ciro’s popularity is very much a response to this likeable and unaffected man’s attitude in general and in particular to what his kitchen produces. He constantly upgrades, improves and checks trends and even fads, he says, and of course diets. “One has to be realistic,” he says. “The global trend is towards an awareness of the customer’s dietary requirements.”
None of this detracts from his primary focus of innovation, freshness and flavour. The food is eclectic, with a slant towards French and Italian. The lunch time menu offers a sprinkling of robust dishes, but mostly pastas and light food appropriate to the time of the day.
Although I visit the Cucina often and at various times, it’s really the dinner menu (which changes weekly and is printed on concertina-folded brown paper) that makes my tastebuds trill. In the Ossobuco and lentil soup (with sour cream) starter Ciro’s commitment is clearly evident in the depth of flavour.
I found the sensuous porcini starter (herb crostini topped with sautéed porcini, parmesan shavings and rugola) a tad salty but then perhaps I’m being picky.
The enormously exciting starter of thinly sliced beetroot, avocado and grapefruit topped with Braseola, roast cashews, cucumber and herb vinaigrette. The Bressaola forms a titillating juxtaposition of textures and colours; packed with clever shadings of colours, textures and flavours.
The pasta mains tempt, too. A clear winner in my book is the pasta with Italian salsiccia, crispy pancetta, peas and rosemary topped with crispy potatoes and roast red onions, although close seconds are fettuccine with langoustine, white wine, orange confit and lime leaves, or the penne with roast aubergine and tahini pesto garnished with roast peppers and olives, a close second.
Other knee-trembling mains - line fish, lamb loin cutlets served with a porcini and marsala sauce, beef fillet with always an innovative sauce. And a number of options for vegetarians.