Luca
As the brand-new debut from the Clove Club, Luca calls a stunning 19th-century building in Clerkenwell home. Tucked beside Hat & Mire Court, Luca proudly touts British season ingredients all filtered through a fresh Italian lens. According to its website, Luca serves patrons “high quality ingredients from around the British Isles with a focus on pasta. Produce such as shrimps from Morecambe Bay, Grouse from Yorkshire, Langoustine from Scotland, and cheese from across the country,” Luca’s promise is to observe the established traditions of timeless Italian fare while enjoying the liberty to break the rules when it comes to the classics.
Inside the space, a semi-open kitchen opens up into a dining area shrouded in privacy (there’s a separate pasta kitchen and a separate garden). Oak-paneled flooring is spread throughout the space, and well-placed touches of pale blue and olive-green furnishings help give personality to the Art Deco-inspired space. On the bar menu, standouts include the potatoes cacio y pepe, served in a cheesy, peppery sauce, the Parmesan fries served in a béchamel sauce, and the smoked ox tongue bun served in horseradish and walnut sauce.
On Luca’s dinner menu, the Sea Robin crudo, clementine, marjoram and capezzanna olive oil, the Cornish monkfish, fregola sarda and green olive sauce, the Shaved fennel, toasted hazelnut and pear salad, and the Hazelnut ice cream and salted caramel sauce have been lauded as some of the restaurant’s best and brightest dishes.
Reservations can be made for Luna online through Tock, and the Italian eatery is open for lunch and dinner from Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, Luca opens for what’s known as a a “long lunch,” from midday until 5 p.m.
