News/Reviews

Tatler The Restaurant Guide 2011

Giuliano Lotto, co-owner of Ilia (see next page), and Arjun Waney (La Petite Maison, Roka, Zuma) are the pros behind Il Baretto, so it was always going to be good. Now it’s into its stride. First thing to say is that you can’t sit on the ground-floor level – it’s bar space only, so just get over it. Downstairs, in the brighter-than-most basement, they do pizza and an irresistible calzone alongside risottos, pasta and terrific lamb chops. The crowd is local, well heeled but not loud – very Marylebone – and there is an unspoken amicizia in the air. Waiters, who were a little dopey at the start, have pulled their socks up.

Time Out: London’s Best Restaurants 2011

Don’t be fooled by appearances.  The name might translate as ‘little bar’, and the drinking area that greets you on entering this neighbourhood trattoria is certainly compact enough to justify it.  But the venue’s real draw lies below the collection of small brown leather poufs, spirits bottles housed in ornate, gold-plated frames, and black, wrought-iron chandeliers.  The basement dining area’s artfully rough paint job and smart brown leather seating was packed with a crowd of tourists and after-work City boys enjoying a menu of simple Italian dishes whose appeal lies in the precision of the unfussy cooking.  The pasta in our penne with spicy sausage was al-dente to the point of springiness; an uncluttered smoked salmon pizza allowed the tubular strands of earthy ricotta to shine; and the stewed cherries surrounding a vanilla panna cotta were stunningly unctuous.  Service was charismatically Italian (expect to be greeted by a multitude of ‘buona sera’s), without being over-attentive or loud.

Laissez Fare 23-09-10

First up was one of Il Baretto’s burrata platters, on which you can have the plump orb of cheese and cream accompanied by Parma ham, grilled courgettes or cherry tomatoes.  As you can tell from the photo, we chose the tomatoes.  This was simply outstanding.  The quality of the mozzarella was excellent and it was gloriously creamy inside.  I thought it went really well with the simple pairing of sweet cherry tomatoes.  It was probably the single best thing we ate that night.  I would order it again without thinking twice.

Read the full review at Laissez Fare

Page One London.com 13-07-2010

……with a new chef recently recruited it is fast establishing a reputation for delicate and authentic Italian food.  A basement restaurant with some covetable corners and a ‘baretto’ (small bar) upstairs, the atmosphere is lively and sophisticated.  The wood-fired oven produces pizza – order the mozzarella, tomato and basil and a glass of Terlaner Terlano 2008 straight away while you lull over the menu.  Most Customers order a selection to share with oven-baked sea scallops, deep fried squid and courgette, suckling pig and pickles and a notably good vitello tonnato being the pick of the starters.  A carpacci section is neat including sea bass and veal nut it’s the wild Italian asparagus risotto and black ink tagliolini with crabmeat and courgettes that remain most memorable.

Tatler The Restaurant Guide 2010

Maryleboners are sitting up and paying attention to the newly named Il Baretto, which is on the site of a former pizzeria.  They do pizza and an irresistible calzone alongside risottos, pastas and terrific lamb chops.  The owner is Arjun Waney – of Zuma and La Petite Maison – and the crowd is getting hotter by the day.

Evening Standard 04-02-09

After hearing the magnificent Anna Caterina Antonacci singing Monteverdi — be still my beating heart — at Wigmore Hall, we went to Il Baretto in Blandford Street which, like Mosaico/Dolada, seems to have changed its name (from Giusto) without a noticeable difference in the ownership.

Certainly I remember the charming, enthusiastic manager Tomasa from the previous regime and the wood-fired oven still sits in the rather featureless — apparently soon to be improved — basement dining room. Pizza alla diavola from the “forno” was not as impressive as I remember from Giusto days but other dishes were commendably well executed and the value is good.

Spaghetti con astice (with lobster) at £15 was in fact an improvement on the same dish tried at Zafferano not long ago. Razor-thin slices of cold suckling pig with a ruff of leaves made a fine first-course salad and deep-fried squid and slender batons of courgette were crisp and dry. Sauté of clams and mussels was much enjoyed; lamb cutlets flavoured with garlic and rosemary grilled over charcoal, ditto.

We were sold down on the wine list — to a muscular Bisceglia Aglianico del Vulture at £21 — a tactic which these days induces, as did the wine, a warm glow.