Ex-Michelin starred venue serving fresh Italian food
A long-overdue return to ex-Michelin starred Zafferano. The executive chef Miles Nixon has been in place since the mid-2000s however there have been a string of different head chefs running the kitchen day to day. The summary is that I was delighted to see that the menu on this occasion was a lot better than it was on my first visit in 2011 and now with a new head chef. There is al fresco dining available and the venue is very much a Knightsbridge establishment. It has also received a major refurbishment as of 2020 and looks much more updated as a result.
For the uneasing of lockdowns, the covers to be made available had to drop from 200 covers down to 120. Bread was homemade focaccia which was very good and served with Sardinian salami. The first small course was veal which was good quality, served with tuna and with a lively kick of caper sauce. Linguine with lobster and sweet chili was the clear winner for my guest (and was good) and my tagliolini with black Summer truffle from Umbria was actually wonderful.
Desserts were a mix of classic tiramisu which was served on a brandy snap and was very well done as one can expect. Another one chosen was a cheesecake with a sour cherry ice cream and this was also good. Coffee was from Drury coffee and the petit fours consisted of apricot and coconut, chocolate truffle and caramel, a crostini with apricot and lemon curd and mini ice cream and hazelnut. Quite a lot of effort on just the petit fours alone and this was definitely a notch up from my abysmal first visit in general.
Food Grade: 74%
This was a pleasant lunch no question as the ingredients were pure and fresh. I couldn’t help thinking though that it was entirely plain. At the time of my visit they had a set menu, which I sampled and was not hugely impressed with – the starter was a mozzarella ball on on a bed of sliced cherry tomatoes and the main was turbot on a bed of green beans with a pesto blob on the top. Fresh and well cooked yes, but entirely non-special for a Michelin starred restaurant. So much more effort could have gone in to this and it actually ranks as the most uninspiring / disappointingly basic set menu I have had within any Michelin starred restaurant. Perhaps the a’la carte may be a little better but sadly the experience has made me not want to dive to the front door again in any hurry. If I need to take someone out who adores Italian food and I happen to be in the area and we happen to be hungry, then I will try Zafferano again.
Food Grade: 47%
My hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.
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