AL DENTE

A review by Tanya Howard

Al Dente was born from the passion shared by a group of friends, and that passion was handmade traditional pasta. Bringing London a whole new experience of the Italian signature dishes, the restaurant is situated on Goodge Street.

Led by Roman Filippo Gallenzi, co-founder and director, he is described as a “very young entrepreneur from Rome”, and Al Dente is his first venture in London. He has employed Italian chefs to create recipes that “respect the true Italian heritage, with a young and vibrant twist.”

I was invited to have dinner at Al Dente and as a big fan of Italian cooking I was excited to see if they truly had brought the heart of Italy to London. We started with a platter to share, which included Burrata, a fresh Italian cow milk cheese, which has an outer shell of solid Mozzarella but is filled with Stracciatella and Cream.

Our platter also included a selection of meats including mixed slice Italian Salami, and additionally I got to try their bread with Sicilian Bio Olive Oil and Focaccia. The only issue I have with Italian food is that everything is so filling, I had to stop myself eating the entire platter otherwise I wouldn’t have needed a main meal at all.

Anyone that knows me would probably be able to guess what main I went for, Spaghettoni Alla Carbonara. I have always favoured cheese-based sauce over tomato when it comes to pasta, at home we make our own homemade Carbonara, so I of course had to see how ours lived up to an authentic Italian dish.

The Carbonara was made with free range eggs, pecorino cheese, black pepper and guanciale, which is an Italian cured meat prepared from pork cheek. You may be used to seeing Pancetta in your Carbonara, but this Is quite the point of contention for many Italians and I wouldn’t recommend falling into a debate on this one.

The food was absolutely delicious, and I was especially impressed with the flavour of the guanciale, although I’m not sure how well I’d do at cooking it myself. Sadly, due to the carb fuelled starter I was unable to finish my main and I was absolutely gutted as it was such a tasty meal. I would definitely go back for this, but I would have to skip the starter next time to fully enjoy the full main course.

As I truly couldn’t fit another morsel in me, they sent me home with a Cannoli, an Italian pastry that originated on the island of Sicily. Cannoli’s are a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling. It was presented so well in my takeaway box but because I’m a clumsy idiot by the time I got home I had knocked it so many times it was not photo ready, but it was belly ready.

The atmosphere in Al Dente was lively, welcoming and the staff were so friendly, attentive and knowledgeable, which was great as I always have to ask what things are on the menu. I will definitely be returning and would recommend all of the dishes that I tried. As it’s less than a 10 minute walk from my work I don’t think it will be very long before that return visit happens.