There is something reassuringly old school about Osteria Vibrato, a new Italian restaurant in Soho. Empty wine bottles sit atop wood-panelled walls, pepper grinders are lustily large, floors are speckled terrazzo, and there is an awful lot of white. Not in some minimalistic way, rather the ivory of the maître d’s linen jacket, the Persil glow of the tablecloths, and the cream of the waiters’ aprons. Charlie Mellor, co-owner, trained opera singer, and formerly of Hackney’s The Laughing Heart, wanders the floor with his wine list, as jolly as he is hirsute.
And he does really know his vino, suggesting a handsome Pecorino before my friend Ewan slips off to Burgundy for the very serious red. We start with a brace of martinis, properly cold and dry as a Kenneth Williams barb. They are poured, rather theatrically, from a great height. Splendid. There is a slab of aged ricotta, pure and clean but with a subtle nudge of funk, anointed with a delicate Sardinian olive oil. A trio of Sicilian red prawns are beautifully grilled, the flesh still just opaque, heads busting with that delectably deranged goo. They are drizzled in another olive oil, this time Sicilian, all green tomatoes and fresh-cut lawns. All these rare oils may sound precious, but really, it all makes simple culinary sense.
Then fritto misto: prawns, squid, and fennel, the batter as crisp as it is delicate. Ingredients are pristine, the technique spot on. Any stray crumbs are fastidiously scraped from the table as more red is poured into vast glasses. The sense of spectacle here is every bit as delicious as the white risotto, exquisitely seasoned with aged parmesan, each grain still blessed with a tiny inner nub of bite.
I order the mixed grill – rare, smoky strips of steak and three cuts of lamb: sweet, one-bite chops, great slices of pink rump, and a circle of rolled belly, slow-cooked and pleasingly fatty. Head chef Louis Lingwood sure knows his grigliata. There is easily enough for two, but the veal chop, wrapped in prosciutto and smothered in melted fontina, is too much to resist. This is a restaurant that requires pre-prandial fasting – or skipping breakfast anyway.
We order amaretti biscuits, softly chewy, that take 15 minutes to bake fresh. But worry not: there is plenty of wine to finish and iced grappa to sip. A mandarin sorbet brings things to the most civilised end.
You may be tempted to drop in here for a one-course, sober lunch. That would be fine, but does rather miss the point. Because this is one of those glorious places expressly designed for a long, languorous lunch or dinner. It radiates joy, hospitality, and good cheer. It demands you get stuck right in.
About £50 per head. Osteria Vibrato, 6 Greek St, London W1; osteriavibrato.co.uk
