If there were a single cuisine which almost every person enjoys some part of, it’s most likely Italian. It’s has so many variants and ingredients that you can always create something unique, classic or even new – perfect with an ever-changing dining scene such as London. The other beauty of Italian food is that most recipes have either started or stemmed from a rich family recipe that has either never changed or instead evolved over the decades. No matter what dish you eat, be it lasagna, spaghetti alle vongole or tiramisu, it will always tastes a little different. Italian food never tastes the same twice. Mamma Anna & Co. is a family owned and run Italian deli/shop/restaurant in West Kensington (the not so glamorous part) serving up family style food to a few lucky Londoners.
From the window of this deli you can peer straight into the open-plan kitchen where the whole family can be seen, creating dishes and delights for the day’s service. Mamma Anna & Co. isn’t really about sitting down for a meal, but instead with a focus on take-away. Visit during the day and you’ll have a chance to sample the range of handmade pastas, sauces, gnocchi or the gorgeous sounding ricotta & mortadella quiche – just to name a few. We visited Mamma Anna & Co. to check out its private dining offering, located downstairs in a room which had been re-created to look identical to the family’s dining room back in Milan, brining both the furniture and crockery from their home to London. Mamma Anna & Co. hosts monthly one-off dinners, each unique and each with a different theme (see if you can guess this one). We started out meal here with a very potent bloody mary, accompanied by a syringe of smooth pesto for mixing in. A tasty, alcoholic gulp which got the palate prepared.
Our first dish during our tasting menu was actually a rather simple affair, but at least got us in the mood for what was still yet to come. In fact it was more of an appetiser than a dish – consisting of a single iceberg lettuce leaf, home-made bruschetta, smooth pate, caramelised red onion and a crunchy parmesan crisp. This was by no means a culinary revelation, but it did the job and I loved how every part of it was made in-house – the pate was particularly memorable.
The main courses from our tasting menu were in fact the star dishes. A beautiful home-made tagliatelle pasta was as fresh as could be and cooked the perfect side of al dente. The sauce was an unusual pesto mix of fresh mint and courgette. I’ve eaten both flavours in a pasta dish before, but never in pesto form and never quite as good as this. The ingredients were so fresh and the pesto incredibly smooth – it was almost verging on being a purée. If you’re thinking all that mint sounds a little bit overpowering – your wrong, its sumptuous, moorish and I only wish I took a pot home with me. Our fourth plate consisted of a single juicy lamb chop, coated in chopped almonds which sat on a potato rosti. The lamb itself was perfect, but the rosti rather disappointing – cooked to such a crunch it almost leapt off the plate when cutting into it. A well seasoned butternut squash purée made up or any shortfall and left us in a state of home-made Italian heaven.
I’ll admit I was a little full by this point but the warm Italian hospitality made me want to hang around and delve into my tiramisu inspired zabaione topped with Marsala wine. It may have been small but the few alcohol laced, sweet spoonfuls It gave to me were delightful. In fact my whole experience at Mamma Anna & Co. was delightful. The staff and in particular our dinner host was incredibly welcoming (and easy on the eye), not to mention all the delicious honest family-style cooking. While our dinner experience was not without fault, you have to remember this is a family meal, cooked by a family who have food at their heart and the deli pays full homage to that. If you want honest Italian food at very good prices – Mamma Anna & Co. should be top of your list.
7/10
I was invited to review
