Bocconcino in Mayfair is one of the more approachably priced places to eat on the most expensive square of the Monopoly board, with a decade under its belt serving up pizza around the 20-quid mark (there’s one in Soho, too). Now the group is diversifying with a seafood restaurant on the slowly improving Strand, where The Savoy recently unveiled its new all-day Gallery restaurant and Jeremy King will relaunch Simpson’s in the spring.
The Mood: Life’s a beach
The west coast of Italy has been taken for the mood board, and the Tuscan seaside town of Forte dei Marmi in particular, where smart Milanese and Florentines decamp when they want to hit the beach. The Strand, alas, might not offer quite the same stretch of seven miles of golden sands, but here at Osteria del Mare there are lots of natural wood and stone textures to evoke the pine woods that back on to the beach, all wrapped up in the grand proportions of a former bank, complete with a private dining room hidden away in a former vault and sealed off with the original door.
The Food: Fresh fish and posh pizzas
Yellowtail tartare at Osteria del Mare
A seafood display gives the clue that spanking fresh fish is the house speciality, with the likes of crab, lobster and turbot whipped off the ice and straight into an open kitchen. Given that chef Matteo Massafra has worked in the likes of Six Senses Ibiza and Café Dior, however, it is fair to say he will be rustling up dishes that are rather more luxe than a fritto misto. The menu sparkles with high-end ingredients: yellowfin tuna tartare with celery, caviar, anchovies and tonnato mayo might be followed by risotto with red prawn tartare and porcini mushrooms. Even pizza comes with shavings of black truffle, though not everything is so posh: there’s Margherita and quattro formaggi, too.
Osteria del Mare opened on 9 December 2024 and is available to book now. It is located at 366 Strand, WC2R 0JF, bocconcinorestaurant.co.uk
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