Gino D’Acampo, an internationally renowned chef, has a restaurant in the Aldwych area of London that serves exquisite Italian cuisine.
When I was younger, I was a big admirer of the antics of Gino D’Acampo, the bubbly celebrity chef who became famous for coining the word “fantastico” to describe his food. So, it was with great pleasure that I tried out his brand new Italian cuisine at his 100-seat London restaurant, Luciano by Gino D’Acampo.
The restaurant’s location, The Strand, is also the entrance of the ME hotel, which added some confusion to our search for Luciano by Gino D’Acampo. Luciano, however, is not on the Strand but rather on Aldwych, just across from the Novello.
The greeting room is magnificent, with dramatic black oak furniture accented with gold, and leads into a completely different interior decorated in pastel blue and wood.
Ambiance
The warm summer night air combined with the flower arrangements at the entryway and the lively conversation on the terrace to create a picture-perfect sight. Maybe they were enjoying a grilled broccoletti and asparagus salad with grapes, chickpeas, and toasty croutons, or the Loch Duart salmon salad with avocado, chestnut mushrooms, and crispy guanciale.
Inside, in the airy, refined atmosphere, was where we would find our table. Decorated with light blue wallpaper depicting exotic birds and oversized wildflowers, light blue soft leather and checkered fabric seats, wood floors, and a mirrored ceiling adorned with eye-catching cream cone-shaped lamp shades that cast a pleasing light over marble top tables, the room exudes an air of sophisticated elegance.
In case you arrive early, you can relax at the long bar and enjoy a specialty drink like the “S Lamponi e Rosa,” which combines Bombay Sapphire gin and Hayman’s Sloe gin with a splash of rose water.
On one side of the open kitchen, cooks are rushing about to fulfill customers’ requests. A live DJ is providing the atmosphere music, and I found myself wondering why he had chosen “House Music,” which has a pounding, repetitive sound that I find grating.
Food
Minestrone with wild king prawns in a spicy sauce made for an intriguing first course. We opted for the perfectly al dente asparagus with a poached Burford Brown egg and pecorino cheese and the wonderfully acidic fillet steak tartare with a Burford Brown egg yolk served with crispy thin flat bread.
In addition to the Italian chef’s favorite grilled lobster in Catalana sauce, the new menu has a variety of other mouthwatering options, such as pasta with clams, cherry tomatoes, garlic, chili, and parsley.
We ordered the Veal Milanese with crispy zucchini fritti and rosemary potatoes and the Chicken Alla Luciano with Charlotte potatoes, lemon, and rosemary since none of us is particularly fond of shellfish.
While the chicken was delicious, we thought the veal was overdone; nevertheless, this might have been due to personal preference. Although we didn’t have much room for dessert because of the size of our main courses, everything was fantastic. Unfortunately, we had to go with tradition and order the Tiramisu and the Bomboloni, which are Italian doughnuts dipped in raspberry and white chocolate sauce.
VERDICT
Although there were a few small glitches, Gino D’Acampo’s beautiful restaurant is best summed up by the term “fantastico,” which has become synonymous with the chef.
