10 April 2012

This review was first published in October 1999

Do restaurant critics get it right first time? The question came from the audience at a critics' forum organised by The Restaurant Show, a trade fair sponsored by Hotel and Restaurant Magazine, which recently took place at Olympia. As a member of the panel I tried to convince an extremely sceptical crowd that it was possible to get a feel of the worth of any restaurant in the first few minutes of being there.

So many clues are given. From the typeface on the menu to the facial expression worn by front-of-house staff there are dozens of ways of deciphering the likelihood of a satisfactory experience even before the first bread roll arrives. Admitting that a snap judgment made soon after a restaurant opens is not the ideal method of evaluation, I added that I tried to go back to promising places - or interestingly appalling places - after the dust had settled. Of course, in these volatile days such a policy often means returning to a completely different enterprise or, at least, another chef. I could have added that who you go with makes a difference, too.

My companion at ARTIGIANO in Belsize Park was Alberico Penati, chef of the clubs Harry's Bar and Annabel's and consultant to Caravaggio in the City, one of the restaurants - as is Artigiano - of the Etrusca group. His presence doubtless made a difference to the welcome, which I had found pretty dusty on my first visit, but then the manager has changed since that event. The chap who formerly fronted Floriana in Beauchamp Place is now smiling at the only slightly less fashion-conscious residents of NW3.

The chef has also changed. Graziano Bonacina is a prot?g? of S Penati, and although the shavings of one of the early white truffles of the season - one of the class-A drugs of the foodie world - brought along by the Harry's Bar chef could be accused of befuddling the senses I could nevertheless appreciate the finesse in Bonacina's dish of saut?ed sliced artichokes, the integrity of his risotto Milanese, the thoughtful sourcing of the chunks of Parmesan, the delicacy of the roasted fresh figs with almonds, sultanas and caramel crisp and the lusciousness of a dish of the day on the £10.50 two-course lunch menu - stinco d'agnello glassato al forno, purea di patate ai funghi (roasted and glazed lamb shank with potato and mushroom pur?e) - which I saw being delivered to the next-door table.

I would maintain I was right first time in my guarded enthusiasm and pleased to be wrong-footed at the second visit by new staff in the kitchen and on the floor and, of course, that white truffle. Worth another try for anyone.

Artigiano
Belsize Terrace, London, NW3 4AX

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in