Italy is a minefield for the hungry. Even the most promising shopkeeper – the kind who clearly eats well every day – will send you on a wild-goose chase if you don’t ask for a recommendation in the right way. The trick, I discovered, is to nod through their list of trattorias, wait for them to finish, then say, “Ah, yes, but where do you take your mother?” At which point, the real answer arrives, hushed and conspiratorial, as though passing on the co-ordinates to buried treasure.
A better trick is to be there at the same time as an Italian with impeccable taste and a duty to keep you fed. In this case, Enrico Fantasia (yes, real name) – a Venetian a wine importer, and a fellow who considers cream in carbonara an act of war.
At Ristorante Al Covo, plate after plate arrived. Each dish, a pure expression of that morning’s Rialto market haul, fresh from the Venetian lagoon – three or four perfect ingredients, revered like holy relics.
This steady parade of dishes, one at a time, is for me the finest way to eat Italian food. I adopt this strategy at Lena in Portobello – formerly Locks, now one of the year’s most anticipated openings, led by Liz Matthews, Simon Barrett and Paul McNamara (all of Uno Mas and Etto) – where the only way to launch into the menu of antipasti, primi, secondi, and dolci is by starting with sage and anchovy fritti (€8).
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Two parcels arrive – a sage leaf in spliced anchovy, crisp in golden batter, a burst of umami and salt mellowed by heat. So perfect with a glass of Colomba Bianca, “Vitese”, Grillo (€36.50) from a phenomenal wine list that has been compiled by Barrett and restaurant manager Cian Lynch, who will be familiar to Uno Mas regulars. In fact, you’ll see quite a few familiar faces, including Dovy Stasys, who has worked front of house in Locks since 2020. Already Lena feels like it has been open for years.
Wild sea bass crudo (€15) from the primi section is an example of exactly why Italy remains undefeated in the business of assembling a few ingredients and making them taste like a revelation. Cured sea bass, blood orange, rosemary and opaque slices of radish – that’s it. But then you taste it – the fresh, firm sea bass, the peppery, earthy crunch of the radish, the oil from the rosemary nudging its way across the acid-sweetness of the blood orange – and the whole thing ties together magically.
Then, pici cacio e pepe (€16) – flour, water, Pecorino Romano, black pepper – nowhere to hide. The pasta, made in-house using a La Monferrina pasta machine, is thick and chewy, a muscular twirl of dough carrying its emulsified sauce with confidence. A glance around the room and I find that I’m not the only one sweeping a finger across the plate, unwilling to let a single drop of it go.
The grilled wild halibut (€33) arrives, burnished outside, trembling inside at the suggestion of a knife. A Jerusalem artichoke purée sits beneath it, adding a soft nuttiness, while crisped artichoke brings texture. Tarragon oil slices through with the precision of a lightning strike, while a beautifully balanced, buttery vermouth sauce wraps it in silk. This is the best fish dish I have eaten in years.
And then the veal shin osso buco (€32), a contrast in weight and flavour, the bone standing proud, filled with trembling marrow. The saffron-tinted risotto, each grain distinct, shimmers with butter and the undertones of smoked bone marrow; the gremolata adds a sharp, grassy counterpoint. The slow-cooked veal is still pink inside, still carrying that umami depth, and still full of life. The risotto is al dente, and finishing it is a two-person job.
The tiramisu (€10), layers of mascarpone, coffee, cocoa, and sponge, is destined to become the signature dish here, like the red wine prunes with mascarpone in Etto and the flan de queso in Uno Mas. It’s deliciously floppy, not cloying. The coffee is sharp, not bitter. The top is dusted with micro-planed chocolate. But it’s the rum baba (€10) that delivers the final, effortless knockout. It is not the usual booze-sodden sponge, but a version so light you could eat it for breakfast. Champagne and new season rhubarb bring a fresh snap of spring.
Lena understands seasonality, balance and restraint at an instinctive level. Serious cooking is masked as effortless simplicity. It’s a restaurant so quietly assured in its ability that it makes others feel over-styled and under-thought. It’s not just good – it’s the perfect restaurant.
Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was €160.50.
The verdict I am in love; this is the perfect restaurant.
Food provenance Glenmar, Hannan’s beef, Pigs on the Green, and McNally’s vegetables.
Vegetarian options Focaccia, supplì al telefono, buffalo mozzarella, pici cacio e pepe, and pumpkin and ricotta mezzaluna.
Wheelchair access Accessible room with no accessible toilet.
Music Sault and soul in the background.
