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Description: "Authentic and fresh" Italian fare has made this yearling, off Bond Street "a useful addition to the West End"; despite the odd let-down, it usually delivers "excellent value in a pricey area".
Food:
Service: 
Ambience:
Phone: 020 7493 7050
Website: http://www.viacondotti.co.uk
Open: Lunch Mon-Fri 1200-1500, Sat 1230-1500 Dinner Mon-Sat 1830-2300
Dress code: Casual
Good for: Good food, Ambience.
Payment options: All major cards accepted
On a roll: head chef Pasquale Amico making pasta at Via Condotti
Clever restaurant name, Via Condotti. The Rome street christened in the early 16th century in honour of the pipelines connecting to the Acqua Vergine - the aqueducts that supplied the city with water - once hosted in its cafés romantics Byron, Shelley and Giacomo Leopardi (a plaque at number 81 marks where he lived). Now, though, it is dedicated to the passion of designer clothes shopping - just like Mayfair's Conduit Street.
Restaurateur Claudio Pulze has done what he sensibly often does: bought a fading business, spent a frugal amount on redecoration and opened a moderately-priced restaurant there. In premises that were Firebird, then Deca, then Rowley's (in a space of seven years) he has opened Via Condotti, with some of the equity sold to chef Pasquale Amico and manager Richard Martinez. Which is also a canny move.
Amico, who opened Refettorio for Giorgio Locatelli, recently put in not very much time at all at Terence Conran's Sartoria up the road. Martinez, who has worked for Claudio Pulze as manager of Al Duca and Zaika, made a brief appearance as partner in a City restaurant called Sorrel. Perhaps their personal investments here will hold them steady.
David Collins designed the interior for Nico Ladenis's Deca, and it is a pity that Rowley's intervened. Gone are Collins's stylish touches with lighting, fuzzy (flattering) mirrors and white linen blinds - although I do believe the comfortable chocolate-brown leather seating has survived the changes of ownership.
New are a few repro posters in praise of Italian liqueurs, leaving the most arresting sight in the room a huge wheel of Parmesan, which sits beside the bar. Small pieces hacked from this were brought with olives - from Puglia, Tuscany and Campania - and a selection of breads, which included two kinds of foccacia and slices from an authentically unsalted Tuscan loaf.
Amico's home town is Naples, and if I hadn't told you that, his obvious enthusiasm for cooking with tomatoes might have given the game away anyway. His aim is to produce rustic, rather than refined, restaurant food. Zuppa di cicerchie con gnocchetti di patate was a particularly successful outcome of this ambition. Although translated on the menu as grass pea, cicerchie seem to be a pale dried legume, soaked before cooking.
The assembly resembled a minestrone with little dumplings, where great restraint had been taken over the colours of the participating ingredients. It was truly delicious. I recommend it, especially now that the cold weather has arrived.
Ravioli di scamorza affumicata con pomodorini e basilico was something of a signature dish when Amico was at Sartoria. Since my guest at dinner was David Loewi, managing director of the Conran Group, he was able to confirm that the smoked cheese ravioli with sun-dried tomato were as delicious as ever. The risotto of the day (pea) was the correct texture, the correct amount, and possessed the correct ability to soothe.
Acqua pazza, meaning crazy water, is an age-old Neapolitan technique of cooking fish in sea water, wine, olive oil and - would you believe it - tomatoes. Red bream is prepared this way. I asked the recipient if the name was more interesting than the dish, which seemed to me a possibility. He said no, he loved it. My lamb chops, cut from a best end, with "cipollotti" onions - surely it's cipolette, but large spring onions to you - were fine, nothing remarkable. Loewi liked the pan-fried red mullet with capers, lemon and black olives.
Millefoglie Via Condotti is mille feuille - thousand leaves doesn't quite do it - filled with morello cherries and cream and is delicious. The traditional lemon dessert from Sorrento, resembling new balls at Wimbledon, is also well worth trying.
The all-Italian wine list is tempting, but enthusiastically priced, and offers 10 bottles also by the glass, but the manager said that since they have the means to keep opened wines in good condition, others can be served that way, too. Well, he said that to me.
Via Condotti, with its pretty flowery exterior, comes across as a neighbourhood restaurant in an area that isn't really a neighbourhood. Let's hope the fashion crowd adopt it instead.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
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Went there yesterday, place buzzing already at 7:30. Downside is tables are very close to one another (no way of escaping the cigar loving neighbour) and noise levels are high. I had trouble deciphering what the person sitting next to me was trying to tell me. Food: chestnut pasta with game would have been rather nice, had it not been for the fact that it was cold – having had to wait for about 40 mins just to get the orders going. I’d rather eat it than send it back. Next, venison: very disappointing, to me the meat had been hung for too long, and the taste suffered (I was coming from a ten days spell with at least 5 different venison sessions, both here and abroad, so I had plenty to compare with). Puddings: very nice, millefoglie with custard and raspberries, very light and pleasing. I regret not tasting the bonet of a fellow diner, a regional dish unusually found outside piedmont. Service was a bit patchy: besides the long waits, the cumbersome position of the tables meant that even for our party of five there was a continuous criss-crossing of arms half an inch from our noses to put and take plates. Now I do not expect a red carpet when leaving, but perhaps the front staff might have at least cared to say goodbye. Pricing structure: looks quite reasonable, 3 courses at £24.50. HOWEVER: some dishes require extra supplement and portions are small (my venison was like half portion at Latium, to me a much better choice). I’d rather pay a bit more for Latium than go back.
- Pm, London
