What's the draw
You can tell by the space what's in store here: a beautiful marble bar for cocktails and small bites, and an open – glamorous but not showy – dining room. The food follows suit: inspired by rustic Italian simplicity, with a few contemporary flourishes.
What to drink
Any cocktail menu that has a whole section dedicated to negronis is alright in our book. Its 'classic' serve is Bombay Sapphire gin, Campari, Cocchi di Torino and Antica Formula, while there's a boulevardier-leaning version made with Nikka from the Barrel, Campari and Carpano Classico. There are cocktails for sweeter palates, too, as well as an all-Italian wine list that includes some old and rare gems, available by the glass thanks to the use of a Coravin.
What to eat
You can graze here, with nibbles like the delicious nduja sausage and taleggio arancini and pizzetti a decent accompaniment to a quick cocktail or glass of wine. Or, you can go all-out – antipasti, primi, secondi – and roll out the door afterwards. You can probably guess which route we went down, especially if we tell you the lamb shoulder ragu with fettuccine was lip-smacking, the lamb shoulder with umami-rich bagna cauda (a Piedmontese creamy butter laced with anchovy) was a hit, and the fillet steak had serious flavour as well as texture. Yeah, you got us.
Dinner and drinks for two, about £120. 62 Seymour Street, W1H 5BN; bernardis.co.uk
