In December, restaurateur Roberto Costa will open doors to the official Casacosta restaurant and shop in London's Fulham.
Starting life as an online shop during lockdown, it brings the very best ingredients from Roberto’s home country of Italy to London with hand-selected produce from trusted suppliers.
Now having found a home in South West London, the shop opened in October as a quintessential Italian kitchen, larder and butcher. Shelves are lined with fresh vegetables and fruit, cheeses and charcuterie, breads and cakes as well as pantry items including the finest Italian pasta and sauces.
Customers can also pick up freshly made ready meals for those who want the authentic taste of Italy at home alongside the best Italian wines, beer and pre-made cocktails.
Hidden behind a secret entrance inside the shop, the restaurant will open next month serving a concise menu that celebrates the home-cooked meals served on dinner tables throughout Italy using the very best ingredients.
Plates of antipasti feature delicious charcuterie and freshly baked focaccia alongside burrata and stracciatella cheeses. Primi follow with classic dishes of pasta from aglio, olio & habanero (creamy garlic sauce topped with toasted habanero breadcrumbs), tortellini in brodo (freshly made tortellini in chicken broth, crispy chicken skin and parmigiano reggiano), and lasagne.
Secondi will include dishes of polpette di fassona (meatballs made of renowned fassona beef in passata), vegetarian burger, and merluzzo alla Palermitana (pan-fried cod with capers, anchovies and onion served with tomato sauce).
A list of ever-changing specials will also be on the menu, created by the chefs who will pick what looks particularly delicious from the shop’s shelves that day.
True to form with all of his restaurants, Roberto will inject theatre into the service of the dining room. The steak tartare will be made at the table, giving diners the chance to choose the ingredients that will go into their own dish.
Pasta dishes will also have a dramatic flair such as Spaghetti al pomodoro. With a sauce made from three different types of tomato (Piennolo del Vesuvio, Corbara and San Marzano), the pasta will be served at the table with the waiter pouring the sauce on top of the dish in front of diners to resemble the Vesuvius volcano.
Sweet tooths will be indulged with dolci such as tiramisu, brioche & gelato, tartelleta di pere (cocoa pastry, caramelised pears, sweet ricotta and chocolate marzipan), and pan di Spagna al caffe (coffee sponge with gianduia cream and chocolate).
The amaro bar will serve cocktails including amaro itself, an Italian herbal liqueur that is commonly consumed as an after-dinner digestif, and will display bottles of Italian wine to tempt diners.
