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Description: warm and welcoming place, fine Italian cuisine with Sardinia speciality,pizzas in a Wood fired oven,private room linked to a rear garden
Phone: 02072786955
Website: www.tenore-restaurant.co.uk
Email: tenore-restaurant@hotmail.co.uk
Open: 6 pm-11pm
Dress code: none
Island heritage: Dario Mele, joint-owner of Tenore
The Sardinian flag is a heck of a thing. Adopted in its present form only 10 years ago, it features a thin red cross on a white background — with the severed head of a Moor displayed in each of the quarterings.
These days the Moors face right and they each have a bandage around their forehead, rather like a do-rag. Before 1999, however, the heads faced left and the bandage covered their eyes —because what the flag symbolises is the defeat and execution of Moorish kings after the reconquest of the island in the 11th century. Such an imperious banner — a bit surprising it hasn’t yet gone the way of the golliwog.
At Tenore, they display the flag proudly, with two whopping ones draped over the front window and another flying inside over the bar. Sardinian brothers Alessandro and Dario Mele, who have worked in London restaurants for 10 years, opened Tenore earlier this year with, as chef, Roberto Tonzanu, formerly of Passione, where he worked alongside Geraldo Contaldo.
They aim to deliver a full “taste of Sardinia”, if that’s what you fancy, but it’s not compulsory. There is a dual menu, offering mainstream Italian dishes before the Sardinian specials, as well as a long list of pizzas from the wood-fired oven, ranging from a Margherita at £6.80 to assorted versions made with buffalo mozzarella at £10.75.
The atmosphere here, once you’re past a weird fake rock by the entrance, is immediately friendly and courteous in that Italian way nobody else ever quite manages. Even though it’s yet another pub conversion the whole joint actually feels remarkably authentic, there being plenty of Italian friends-cum-customers dropping by. On Saturday night, the big flatscreen TV was, quite correctly, showing the big match (Juventus 2, Livorno 0) and the ragazzi were table-hopping away, watching the footie to the annoyance of their girlfriends.
There are lovely white marble tables and a nice dark red banquette to sit at, echoing the burgundy-coloured ceiling and the dark napery. Even the loos are ultra-clean and modern, in that fine Italian style, quite different from the sorry jakes in most converted pubs. The brothers, shaven-headed, black-shirted and apron-wearing, preside, while an equally formally dressed waitress gets busy. Service is swift and amiable.
Antipasto Sardo (£7.95) was a huge plate of wonderfully fresh stuff, served on Sardinian crispy bread. There was great ham, cut translucently thin and herby tasting, plus two types of salami and splendid Sardinian cheeses, a creamy ricotta-ish soft one being served in a chicory leaf. You might think you could put this together yourself from a delicatessen but it wouldn’t be easy to match the quality.
The traditional delicacy “sa burrida” (£7.95) is best considered as a curio, rather than a new favourite. It’s made from dogfish, simmered in pieces in salt water then marinated in a sauce made from vinegar, walnuts, parsley and garlic, with the addition, traditionally, of the dogfish’s reserved liver. It arrived as a mound of chopped fish, tepid rather than cold, surrounded by rocket leaves and half-walnuts, its soft texture a bit reminiscent of canned fish. Tangy from its dressing, it could be quite a refreshing preparation on a hot day but here the generous portion soon seemed too much.
On the other hand, a starter serving of risotto con calamari, cozze e bottarga (£8.50) was fabulously good. Bottarga, the cured roe of grey mullet, features a lot in the menu here and while undiluted and badly used it can be overpowering, here it lends incredible fishy savour to the whole dish, further enhanced with a warming dash of chilli. The rice was perfect, the squid and mussels tender, the whole as good as it gets.
I last ate fregola Sarda (£9.55) cooked by Francesco Mazzei at L’Anima, where it currently costs £23.50. Tenore’s version was homelier but none the worse for that. Fregola is a form of couscous, semolina being rubbed by hand into little balls that are then left to dry before being cooked in a sauce. It makes quite a dense carb, again unlikely to become massively popular outside its homeland. Here it was dressed a little stingily with just one prawn and half a langoustine, although the herby, tomato-ish broth, incorporating some mussels and a few clams, was sufficiently well-flavoured anyway.
From the mains, another Sardinian speciality was almost over-generous. Orata con purea di fave — gilthead bream with broad bean purée, £14.50 — was a whole massive fish, wonderfully fresh and meaty, served wrapped up in greaseproof paper, aromatic with tomatoes and herbs when opened up, well accompanied by spinach and the purée. How often do you get served too much really good fish in a restaurant? Coniglio alla vernaccia (£14.50) was another rustic hit — good pieces of farmed rabbit on the bone, in a loose rosemary and garlic sauce using Sardinia’s sherry-like wine, with lots of heavily sautéed potatoes on the side, quite browned but tasting considerably better than they looked. Absolutely satisfying.
Tenore offers an intriguing list of Sardinian wines, many based on unfamiliar grapes. The house wines come from the Cantina di Dorgali on the east coast of the island and are good value at £13.75 a bottle, £3.75 a glass — the rich red “cannonau” being in fact what is called garnacha in Spain, grenache in France.
Tenore’s problem is its location. It is just 50 yards from the excellent gastropub The Compass, which also opened earlier this year, one of the other places I’ve reviewed in the past few months where I’d choose to spend my own money.
Like The Compass, Tenore isn’t yet as busy as it deserves to be, purely because of where it is — too far from Upper Street, on the edge of plutocratic Barnsbury, where, after a long day of racking up the hours, the lawyers perhaps prefer to regale themselves in the privacy of their homes.
It’s a pity. Both these places are well worth the trek from Islington central or even up the hill from King’s Cross. At Tenore, for a try-out, you could get away with stone-baked pizzas and house wine for under £40 for two and have an altogether better experience than in a chain. Just look out for those flags — and go easy on the dogfish.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
The food at this place was dreadful. First course of half a tomatoe with a whole mozarella inside was good on quantity but the ingredients were tasteless. Main course 5 prawns probably frozen and grilled so much tough as old boots. Complained but just told they would inform the kitchen. Most diners were eating pizza so maybe they should just stick to cooking these.
Just walk by and go on down to Upper Street.
- Maggie, London
I think the best Italian food is in Italy, but in this Restaurant I have found a perfect combination between price and elegance mixing a kind staff and chic building, where a people can find a intimate dinner or a casual moment in its differents rooms.
- Sara Navarro, London
I must`ave gone to a different place. Twice I have visited and found the food and service mediocre. If this place is relying on repeat business then I don`t think it`ll last long. Cannot believe I was eating food created by the ex chef of Passione, as I have had some seriously good grub there.
- Tonyw, london
