Now here's a ridiculous idea for a restaurant: sell good food at reasonable prices, employ engaging staff who look happy to be there, don't mark up wine greedily, take reservations. How ludicrous. It'd never stand a chance. Absurdly, this second restaurant from chef Cameron Emirali and his front of house partner Luke Wilson doesn't have a burger on its menu, nor, as far as I know, employ PRs or host dinners for people with "meaningful internet presences". In terms of "design", they have done little more than titivate the fixtures and fittings left behind by the site's previous, short-lived incumbent, painted a few bricks white and installed their trademark tables with a handy inbuilt cutlery-and-menu section. They've not even got creative with the name: their first was 10 Greek Street and this is 8 Hoxton Square. Tuh. It's got hubris written all over it, and not even in Futura Bold.
Only, it hasn't. It's a smash, rammed to the rafters on a school night, with people talking and laughing and ordering another bottle from a wine list created with wit and without avarice. It's the very definition of a good time: unrushed, informal, menu stuffed with things you didn't know you were pining for. Savoury zeppole, for instance, a play on sweet Italian doughnuts, with a different filling each day: we land on 'nduja day, the pungent, scarlet sausage oozing through grease-free buns.
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