Located in Fitzrovia, the restaurant serves dishes made with fatto con amore.
Ah, Rome. The Eternal City of high style, great times and good food. The city of Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn whizzing around on a Vespa scooter, of Italian mammas and their secret sauces passed down from generation to generation.
There's a uniquely Italian word that sums up the city and its residents: sprezzatura. There's no direct translation for it in English, because it's just not an English thing; but it means something like insouciant style – see, we had to use a French word. Strolling the streets with your Armani jacket not worn, but slung casually over your shoulder – that's sprezzatura.
Agrodolce (meaning "bittersweet") London has that in abundance: mismatched vintage floral plates, giving it that family-home vibe; decorative plasterwork ceiling features adorning the walls; a modern wooden slatted ceiling like the inverted hull of a boat. On this Wednesday night, it's full and buzzing with happy, relaxed voices.
The original branch was established in 2018 near Rome's Trevi Fountain. In this new sister restaurant is on London's Charlotte Street, long the culinary epicentre of central London, owners Maria Soldatova and Antonio Russo aim to "share the authentic taste of Rome with the world… to bring the philosophy of fatto con amore – made with love – into everything we do, from our dishes to our hospitality."
So how's that working out so far? Pretty well. The food is not fine dining, but it's hearty, fun and mostly delicious. Be sure to order the fantastic Beef Carpaccio, served with Parmigiano Reggiano and Truffle. It's a generous portion, as starters go, especially the lashings of truffle shavings. We also ordered one from the traditional fritto (fried) street food section: Fried Zucchini Flowers with Mozzarella, which was rich and satisfying, with a gooey interior and crispy shell.
Of the mains, the standout was Homemade Tagliatelli with Seafood and Tomato Sauce. Agrodolce London pride themselves on making their own pasta, and this was a taste of heaven: served perfectly al dente, with a deep-tasting sauce, and plenty of salmon, shrimp, squid and mussels. We also ordered Saltimbocca, a Roman staple. This Veal Escalopes with Parma Ham and Sage Cooked in Marsala Wine was perfectly good comfort food, but if you had it by the Trevi Fountain, you wouldn't be writing postcards home about it.
We hugely enjoyed the sides: Baked Potatoes were not, as the English would have it, a giant spud whacked in the oven and served whole with butter, but delicate little cubes, browned on the outside, deliciously smoky and garlicky. And the Agrodolce Salad was a triumph: the sort of juicy, sweet orange slices you wouldn't know you could get in England, laid over a bed of spinach leaves with almonds, raisins and fennel.
Overall, we'd heartily recommend the food. However, the desserts were a miss rather than a hit. Of course, we had to order the Tiramisù: simple to make, hard to make special. We've tried some exceptional examples of late, notably at the Italian Greyhound, so perhaps we're spoilt. While it looked pretty, served in an outsized porcelain coffee cup, it didn't hit our sweet spot. And the Cheesecake with Strawberry was a misfire: too much filling, a little too sour, with not enough biscuit base to offset it.
But that's a minor niggle – the previous courses were so good, so sizeable, so fatto con amore, that dessert feels like an unnecessary indulgence. The wine list is small, but well chosen – we had a crisp Pecorino which, like everything here, was very reasonably priced.
Service at Agrodolce London was universally charming, if a little chaotic: there was some mix-up when we arrived over the correct table, and a couple of times during the evening, a young waiter was seen roaming the restaurant, dishes in hand like Cinderella's glass slipper, asking diners if they were the rightful owners. Put it down to early teething troubles if you want – but we'd like to think it's just a continuation of that authentic Roman sprezzatura.
GO: Visit https://agrodolcelondon.uk for more information.