I’ve written about Orsini Ristorante before and it’s been a family favourite for a number of years since my friend Rona introduced me to it. With its location opposite the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington, it’s a perfect location for a trip to the museums (the Natural History and the Science Museum are also close by) or Knighsbridge, where we were heading today to stock up on coffee pods at the Nespresso shop. You can park for free on Sundays around South Kensington, which not only saves a lot of money but also means you don’t have to keep an eye on the time.

I wanted to write about Orsini again because I went with Lyndsey and Freddie today and with Freddie’s first birthday only a couple of weeks away, we’re starting to look for child friendly restaurants where we adults can still enjoy some fabulous food. Of course, going to an Italian restaurant run by Italians is a good start, for they are always so good with children. When I rang yesterday to reserve a table and asked if they had a high chair, they said: ‘Of course!’ as if there was no question they wouldn’t.

As Orsini is a small independent, family-run restaurant, I wasn’t expecting them to have a children’s menu but when the menus came, they put a children’s one before us. Although Lyndsey had brought some food for Freddie, she decided he might as well enjoy the Italian cooking along with us. So, a child’s portion of Penne Al Pomodorino was chosen for him.

It looked so delicious, Lyndsey and I had a taste and decided we’d be happy with that ourselves. It was wonderful. Freddie thought so too and tucked into it enthusiastically. He was in the promised high chair and all the staff were so kind and friendly to him that he had a brilliant time: eating lovely food and ‘chatting’ away to lots of people.

We ordered some bread and olives to start. Lyndsey had a glass of house white wine while I stuck to water since I was driving.

The home-made rolls were delicious; some had olives in them. They were warm and soft in the middle and Freddie ate quite a lot before his pasta arrived. Living close to Your Bakery in Whitton, he’s developed a strong liking for good Italian bread.

Lyndsey chose one of the specials of the day: a risotto with Italian sausage and cavolo nero.

It looked so good I had to ask for a taste! It was delicious. I meanwhile had chosen a Traditional Lasagne. I love lasagna but don’t make it a lot living on my own and generally only when I have guests. So it does feel a bit like a treat.

It was excellent: a rich, delicious lasagna with a wonderful flavour. I’d also ordered a salad to go with it and it was so huge it was definitely more than enough for Lyndsey and I to share.

Orsini do some great desserts but we decided not to overdo the leisurely lunch with Freddie who’d been sitting so happily all the time we ate but maybe needed to get going now. After all, when you’re only one year minus two weeks, there’s only so much sitting you want to do. We ordered coffees for each of us and I asked for the bill. The waiter noticed that Freddie had only eaten about half of his pasta. I said he’d loved it but it was too much for him. The waiter then offered to pack it up so we could take the rest home. What brilliant service. Now Freddie can look forward to the second half for lunch tomorrow! I’m sure we’ll be back soon … and given how much Freddie liked it, ‘Orsini’ may turn out to be one of his first words!!