Spuntino

Russell Norman and Richard Beatty, the pair behind the permanently packed Polpo and Polpetto, will launch Spuntino, their third restaurant, in March 2011.

Spuntino (which means ‘snack’ in Italian) follows the small plates theme of their first two restaurants but takes its influences from down-town New York. Think classic mac & cheese, truffled egg toast, shoestring fries, soft-shell crab with Tabasco aioli and meatball sliders. The drinks list includes revived prohibition cocktails such as the Sazerac and the Bronx.

Spuntino’s interior and exterior, as with Polpo, has been designed by Russell who has enlisted veteran Soho metal worker Bela Pasztor to create wire cages for carbon filament light bulbs which will hang over a pewter-topped bar. The room features uncovered Victorian glazed brick and mosaic walls. Large rusted tin tiles, salvaged from a New York warehouse, cover the high ceiling and reclaimed classic diner stools line the bar. The 25-seat side street Soho site evokes nineteenth century machine-age Brooklyn.

“I’ve been thrilled by the tremendous excitement that has greeted Polpo. It’s clear that London has an appetite for fun dining. I hope everyone will find Spuntino just as exciting, and maybe a little surprising,” says Russell Norman.

Spuntino
61 Rupert Street
Soho
London
WC2B 5JS

www.spuntino.co.uk