Aurelia - review

We weren't quick enough off the mark to stop the explanation when we ate at Aurelia. The burden of it is that all the dishes on the menu are designed for sharing and will not be served in a particular order but just when the kitchen is ready to send them out. Customers should enjoy eating "family style" and might want to specify items from each section, which will be delivered whenever. This system has some sort of rationale and culinary justification at the Japanese restaurants Zuma and Roka, which are also in the group owned by Arjun Waney.

A Mediterranean menu of small, markedly expensive European - mainly Italian - dishes corralled under various headings, some referring to the cooking process, doesn't lend itself easily to the approach. But if you don't divvy up - cutting our weeny red mullet escabèche into four required the skills of an artisan watchmaker - people at the table may be left with nothing in front of them while the kitchen takes its time and suits itself in sending out the rest of the order. It is for this reason business folk entertaining clients whom they don't know particularly well tend to avoid La Petite Maison, another in the Waney ownership.

The head chef at Aurelia is Rosie Yeats-Greenslade, who has worked at Roka for the past four years. It is possible to glimpse her - although I didn't - in the open grill and rotisserie area that occupies centre stage in the downstairs dining room. When we arrived at Aurelia -having booked under the name of our companions - we were shown to a table on the ground floor but when I was recognised by the manager Leonardo, whom I remember from his previous job at Zafferano, we were offered seating downstairs.

Tables there have tablecloths, you are away from the awkwardly designed entrance that tends to kettle arriving customers and it is clearly perceived to be the preferable part.

Silvio Berlusconi would have inferred that the British economy is in rude health. Early in the first week of trading this pricey joint was jumping, an activity which, when waiters joined in, resulted in several crashes of plates to the floor. Tables are too small to cope with the sharing notion and there is constant shifting of dishes. One from the "Salads" section, artichokes braised with olives, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts, was delicious but the fact that the artichokes used were baby ones made the amount even more risible for four to share.

From "Kitchen" - "What is that supposed to mean?" said my step-daughter Amy - came courgette fritto, courgettes and their flowers, with Parmesan and lemon, and crisp baby squid with chilli and lemon. Both were beautifully executed, the courgette assembly particularly so - seeming to have jumped straight out of the frying pan into the clash of four forks.

Our waiter had conceded that what, in terms of price anyway, seemed like main courses could be served after the cheaper dishes chosen. Veal cutlet Milanese and pork chop with fennel seeds and braised borlotti beans were served sliced, all the easier to hand around. Reg kept his corn-fed baby chicken flavoured with thyme and smoked paprika from La Vera close to his chest and would only give away the accompanying polenta. He doesn't like polenta.

While I thought Amy's Dover sole with clams, tomato and capers was truly delectable it just didn't sit well with Tim's pork or my veal. The impact of three skilfully cooked main ingredients was diminished by muddling them up. Side orders of cavalo nero and sprouting broccoli were just too Lilliputian for their role.

The presentation of a scoop of chocolate truffle cake nestling in a white paper cloth was too vivid an image for a couple - our guests - whose memories of nappy-changing are not all that far away. Tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream was luscious.

On looking around the room it did occur to me that this seemingly inexplicable encouragement to play with food might suit the sort of punter attracted. When the music stops you needn't consume anything much at all - and that way you stay a size six.

It is a shame because the menu at Aurelia is alluring, the kitchen apparently on cracking form and even some wines, such as Mas Cal Demoura 2008, one of the success stories of modern Languedoc vinification, are not marked up too vivaciously.

Of course there is nothing to stop you behaving like my friend described above and just ordering a meal to suit yourself.

Aurelia
13-14 Cork Street, W1S 3NS