NOTTO

Having initially debuted as a successful online delivery service in May 2021, Notto Pasta Bar launched in Piccadilly last November and is the brainchild of two Michelin starred chef, Phil Howard and his business partner Julian Dyer. A dish that has always featured on his Michelin starred menus, Notto celebrates Phil’s love of pasta with simple ingredient-led dishes served in a chic all-day pasta bar. Notto’s aim is to serve some of the best pasta you have ever tried. Julian is the CEO and founder member of Pots & Co. who make exceptional hand-made, restaurant quality potted desserts for people at home.

Phil’s enthusiasm for fresh pasta shines through in Notto’s menu offering delicious, authentic pasta dishes flanked by simple, freshly prepared snacks, starters and desserts using the very best ingredients. Eight pasta dishes are available daily and will change according to the season, but highlights include: gnocchetti with smashed sausage, white wine, fennel and chilli; pappardelle with slow cooked shin of beef, oxtail and red wine; bucatini with a ragout of autumn vegetables, mushrooms and chestnuts; and squid ink spaghetti with a sauce of sardines, garlic, sweet peppers and tomato. It is recommended that you share three dishes between two people.

Snacks come in the form of gorgeously plump olives, Notto’s rosemary, rock salt, tomato and garlic focaccia, parmesan butter biscuits, wild mushroom arancini and endless crostini. Starters see staples such as vitello tonnato (veal served chilled with a creamy tuna mayonnaisestyle sauce) and mortadella served with pickles given all the love they deserve. Deeply rooted in using extraordinarily good ingredients and recipes honed from Phil’s years of top-flight restaurant cooking, Notto is an affordable and accessible concept celebrating the simplicity of Italian cuisine in a relaxed and fun environment. The secret of great pasta is great ingredients, expertly cooked.

Executive chef Louis Korovilas (Locanda Locatelli, Pied à Terre, Bancone) is at the helm in the kitchen. Louis, who has worked alongside several acclaimed chefs including Giorgio Locatelli and Marcus Eaves, has extensive fresh pasta experience and oversees the entire food operation. Alongside Louis, Nicholas Georgoulakis (Sloane Street Deli, Elystan Street) is General Manager and Harvi Singh (Le Manoir aux Quat’saisons and Elystan Street) the Operations Manager.

The 74-cover site is stylish and casual with the focal point of the pasta bar being an open, central kitchen where the pasta magic is visible for all to see. There is a kitchen in the basement where the pasta is freshly made daily and brought up to the restaurant. The light-filled space has a neutral colour palette - think stone-coloured walls, oversized rattan light shades, touches of olive-green mosaic tiles and wooden features - which come together to evoke a warm and comfortable Italian trattoria.