Where to Eat with Kids: Corto Italian Deli, Twickenham

Corto Italian Deli in Church Street, Twickenham is a favourite family haunt and I’ve written about it a few times on the blog – it’s fabulous for morning coffee, lunch, family celebrations, and to buy the best quality Italian foods you’ll find anywhere. We go there a lot but it’s taken me a while to get […]

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Restaurant Review: La Mia Mamma

When my friend Lucia invited me to join her and husband David for a meal at La Mia Mamma – a restaurant with real Italian mammas in the kitchen – it was an offer impossible to resist. Well, I did actually want to see my friends most of all! But the chance to enjoy an […]

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Restaurant Review: Debraggio – Italian Kitchen

My friend Kate was treating me to a late birthday lunch and we decided to meet in Debraggio in Richmond, where we’ve met before. We’re both Italophiles. Indeed, a few years ago we used to meet up once a week to practise our Italian and made a trip to Rome together. There’s been an Italian […]

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Revisiting Italian Favourites

Life has been a bit full-on of late and so I’ve not had much time to write on the blog. Then a lingering cold led me to cancel a couple of visits to new restaurants that it would have been good to write about. The last week or so though has seen me returning to […]

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Restaurant Review: Osteria Pulcinella

It’s nearly 4 years ago that one warm summer’s evening, Antonio and I stood in Church Street, Twickenham and deliberated over whether to eat in Masaniello or, on the opposite side of the road, Osteria Pulcinella. I can’t remember why we finally decided to go into Masaniello (click here for review) but I liked it so […]

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Twickenham’s ‘Little Italy’

There have been a lot of Italians  – Italian restaurants and delis – in Twickenham for as long as I’ve lived here. And that’s well over 20 years. But it’s only since writing the blog that I’ve stopped to wonder why. When I was searching out some sumac a few months ago, my friend Elsa, […]

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Restaurant Review: Al Boccon di’Vino, Richmond

There’s been a lot of excitement about Al Boccon di’Vino around my local area of Richmond upon Thames for some time; indeed, word is spreading and my son Jonathan said even people in his London Bridge office were talking about this Venetian restaurant in South West London. I guess, therefore, it wasn’t surprising that it took […]

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Top Ten Cookery Books: Katie Caldesi

I met Katie Caldesi this morning to talk about her Top Ten Cookery Books at Caffe Caldesi in Marylebone Lane. We’d exchanged a few emails and phone conversations setting this up and it was great to finally meet Katie and also to enjoy the welcoming ambience of Caffe Caldesi. Katie and her husband, Giancarlo, opened […]

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