Da Gianni

The walls at this Italian newbie are lined with old style Italian ads for spaghetti and Cinzano as well as one featuring a man napping in front of a plate of foie gras with a goose on each shoulder, very sweetly kissing over his head. It's a beautifully simple room with frosted glass deco style lampshades, white walls and simple wooden furniture. If only the loud South American techno that's passing for background music would go away.

Chef Giovanni Spinazzola (ex Ecco) is doing good things on the plate here and if it isn't for the truffle oil splashed on everything I order, it'd be really sound food. In both instances, the waiter doesn't inform the table that it would be making an appearance nor is it stipulated on the menu. Take the green asparagus spheres topped with a single fried duck egg - a stunning, simple dish cheapened by truffle oil. And though pappardelle ribbons with quail, mushrooms and fried quail egg sees beautifully made, buttery pasta lifted with pan juices, it's once again drizzled in truffle oil.

There are plenty of other dishes on the menu that aren't tainted by the stuff - there's a gutsy swordfish ragu dotted with olives and tossed through spaghetti for one thing, and abbacchio (that traditional Italian dish of wet roasted lamb) for another. And order the cheese plate - figs at their prime served with a slice of blue cheese, some thin slices of spiced Italian bread and a little dish of truffled honey (this is the exception to the truffle flavoured rule - the honey is actually infused with truffle rather than damaged with truffle flavouring). 

Things could be better here but on the whole, it's a good operation. Pace in general could do with licking into shape but the concept of the dishes is sound and execution, more so. All they need to lose is the 2,4-dithiapentane.