Samyukta Nair to open casual Italian Mayfair restaurant
Called Nipotina, it will open in November on South Audley Street, which is already home to her Mediterranean bistro Socca.
The restaurant, which takes its name from the Italian word for ‘granddaughter’ will be led in the kitchen by Turin-born chef Somaia Hammad and is said to blend the duo’s 'cultural traditions to create nostalgic dishes with family at the core'.
Hammad trained as a chef in northern Italy and during her formative years spent a lot of time travelling with her grandmother in and around the region of Puglia, from where her family originates. Borrowing her nonna's recipes, Nipotina’s menu will features family classics that she has mad her own.
The restaurant is described by Nair as being her most informal to date and will be the first in her portfolio to serve breakfast.
The menu will feature homestyle dishes such as insalata fresca di finocchio – salad of rocket, fennel, orange, fava, aged pecorino and Calabrian chillies; mazzancolle - wild Scottish langoustines roasted with garlic and parsley; cozze ripiene – Hammad's take on stuffed mussels; and fegatini di pollo in padella - chopped chicken livers, balsamic nectar and pancetta.
Pastas will include orecchiette 'cime di rapa', Hammad’s grandmother’s mafalda ragù; and tortelli di aragosta alla vodka – lobster triangolo in a spicy red vodka sauce with black garlic, while secondi dishes will include roasted fillet of red mullet Livornese style with capers, lemon zest, Leccino olives, parsley and tomatoes; and bistecca alla Fiorentina - a sharing T-Bone chargrilled steak.
The dessert highlight will be Nonna Lina’s cake – a ricotta cake named after Hammad’s grandmother and the grandmothers before her.
Italian wine expert Luca Dusi of Shoreditch-based Passione Vino will be part of the team and will curate an all-Italian wine list featuring many bottles from his ‘true wine wonderland’ poured by the carafe as well as the glass.
The drinks offer will also feature a selection of Italian liqueurs and cocktails including Nipotina’s negroni - a blend of Rinomato L’Aperitivo Deciso, Mancino Rosso infused with bergamot and earl grey that is contained within a clay amphora atop the bar and served by the ladel.
“On meeting Somaia I was inspired by her love for family, passion for food and drive for wanting to create something of her own," says Samyukta.
"Much like myself, she was also celebrating that special bond between grandmothers and granddaughters, and cherished family traditions being passed down, yet made your own.
"While Nipotina is set against the backdrop of a contemporary Italian ristorante on a cornerstone of Mayfair, we are nothing but a humble family business at heart.”
Nipotina will join Nair's Mayfair portfolio, which also includes Socca, launched in partnership with Claude Bosi, Bombay Bustle, Jamavar, KOYN, KOYN Thai, led by Rose Chalalai-Singh and Rhys Cattermoul; and MiMi Mei Fair.
Nipotina will open on 4 November.
