London restaurateurs Andrew and Ninai Zarach, the duo behind the Manicomio restaurants, have added a third string to their bow. The metaphor is deliberate as the musically monikered Canto Corvino, Italian for raven’s song, is a charming nod to the fact that the restaurant’s Artillery Lane address was once called Raven’s Row.
There is, however, no sense of preciousness about the space. B3 Designers, the team behind London stalwarts Roka, Lima and Bubbledogs, were tapped for the interiors and they have delivered a visually arresting room that’s meant to reflect the neighbourhood’s trading and industrial past – antique mirrored panels bounce light off the exposed brickwork, Roman tiles mark the edges of a generously proportioned square bar (itself swathed with trompe l’oeil cabinets), while steel and elm bar stools, subway tiles on walls, stained oak tables and leather banquettes add to a quietly masculine vibe.
In the kitchen, head chef Tom Salt works up a pleasingly small modern Italian menu that’s a greedy mix of regional classics layered with an English sensibility: Pumpkin cannelloni with walnuts, beef short rib Rossini with foie gras, monkfish with mussels and chilli, and poached pear with walnut and buttermilk. A post-prandial tipple devised by the Sanderson’s former barman should round off a satisfying evening.
