Italian deli Lina Stores to open first pasta restaurant

The company, which has been trading for nearly 75 years, will open Lina Stores – 51 Greek Street round the corner from its original site this spring.

Italian-born chef Masha Rener will head up the kitchen, with pasta handmade each day - as it has been since 1944 - in the Soho deli.

Rener first discovered Lina Stores when living in London nearly 20 years ago, and has since travelled back and forth between the two countries sharing recipes and ingredients.

After selling her own restaurant in Umbria, she has returned to London to open the restaurant with the Lina Stores team.  

Her menu will include gnocchi stuffed with ricotta and white truffle; farfalle with nduja and wild fennel; and pappardelle with slow cooked rabbit ragu; alongside prosciutti, cheeses and antipasti.

Diners will be able to sit at a 12-seat bar surrounding an open kitchen, while the lower ground floor will feature a further 36 covers split between banquettes and bar seating.

 “When Lina Stores was first founded, Soho was home to a thriving Italian community of Italian butchers, delicatessens, shops, restaurants and bars,” says Rener.

“Most of these independent businesses have slowly closed their doors but Lina Stores has remained a constant, a home away from home for many Italians like me in London.

“Many of our customers have been coming back to Lina Stores for years and we can’t wait to open our first restaurant, creating another destination where simple Italian cooking can be celebrated at affordable prices by all of our customers (old and new) for another 75 years to come.”