Campanelle, London Ec3: ‘a Great Illustration Of The Pros Of Working From Home’ - Restaurant Review | Grace Dent On Restaurants

There’s an tremendous caller “Italian” edifice conscionable a skip and a jump from nan City of London, adjacent to wherever nan country’s money is looked after. But nan multi-floored Campanelle doesn’t deign to unfastened astatine weekends (for now, anyway), because, well, why bother? Who would go? Mind you, connected nan Friday lunchtime erstwhile I stepped into this elegant, all-day brasserie successful a Grade II-listed building that was erstwhile location to nan London Shipping Exchange, nan full spot was empty, prevention for a flurry of diligent, all-female staff. Friday, it seems, is besides not a engaged time successful nan City.

Campanelle’s à la carte paper is likewise sparse, and oddly uninspiring. It offers nan likes of lobster linguine, breaded veal cutlets alla Milanese and Amalfi citrus tart, and claims to beryllium influenced by nan full of Italy. At breakfast, however, it serves buttermilk chickenhearted waffles and cornbread pinch integrated nama yasai berry jam, though, curiously, not overmuch successful nan measurement of good Italian pastries aliases coffee.

While Campanelle’s meal paper does characteristic herb and ’nduja bruschetta, it besides offers nan alternatively little Italian likes of buttermilk chickenhearted waffles.

Restaurants of this kind, which are apparently designed to return money from group pinch money, thin to drill down connected 1 circumstantial region – let’s opportunity Puglia – earlier creating an intricate, often fictitious backstory astir really Puglia is sealed successful nan chef/patron’s bosom via his nonna successful nan Foggia mountains. Not truthful here, however; they haven’t moreover bothered pinch a ChatGPT-generated yarn. Instead, there’s conscionable a short database of antipasti, fritti and pastas, arsenic good arsenic pesce and carne that’s reportedly cooked connected a charcoal grill, though during my sojourn I sniffed not a whiff of fume successful nan air. Furthermore, Campanelle’s paper makes nary claims that its capelli d’angelo (angel-hair pasta) aliases linguine are handmade, moreover though a main people serving of pasta carbonara and a painfully lacklustre beef shin ragu fettuccine some travel successful astatine £26. That ragu, by nan way, was successful specified dire request of seasoning that moreover a humble Oxo cube would person worked wonders.

‘Oddly uninspiring’: Campanelle’s autochthonal lobster linguine.

The full “let’s get backmost to nan office” brigade should beryllium condemned successful nan afterlife to walk eternity successful an upscale, business-lunch edifice of this sort. Just arsenic they are astatine Campanelle, nan banquettes will beryllium comfy, nan ray fittings expensive, nan air-conditioning cool and nan vino database impressive, but each sheet of crab crockery pinch smoked celeriac will beryllium accompanied by nan panic of proceeding Julie from Rushmore Infinity Brokers’ faltering anecdote astir her cockapoo, while her colleagues softly dice inside.

The tiramisu, you mightiness astatine this shape beryllium unsurprised to learn, is not an authentic, multi-layered portion of semi-orderly, cocoa-encrusted stodge. Rather, it is simply a neatly stacked, precise and beautiful tiramisu that’s plated arsenic if it’s disconnected to Royal Ascot connected apical of someone’s head. Call maine old-fashioned, but I for illustration my tiramisu scooped from a vessel and hitting my sheet pinch a wobbly splat; I besides want a blast of amaretto truthful beardown that it grows hairs connected my face. What I don’t want is simply a tiramisu I tin eat betwixt meals, for illustration a 1970s Milky Way bar, without ruining my appetite.

‘Plated arsenic if it’s disconnected to Royal Ascot connected apical of someone’s head’: Campanelle’s tiramisu.

Campanelle is simply a edifice for group who don’t want to spell to lunch, but perfectly person to, chiefly because they are contractually obliged to entertain clients. If you are 1 of those people, nan nicest point to beryllium said for this spot is that it’s adjacent some to nan agency and to respective mainline train stations, and that nan measure is acold easier to get done firm accounts than nan adjacent Jason Atherton and Gordon Ramsay places. Other than that, this is decidedly not la bella vita.

• Campanelle 19-21 Billiter Street, London EC3, 0203-745 0909. Open Mon-Fri 7.30am-9.30pm. From astir £65 a caput for 3 courses, positive drinks and service.

• The adjacent section of Grace’s Comfort Eating podcast is retired connected Tuesday 23 September – perceive to it here.