Food: Pane Vino, Kentish Town

Pane Vino, Kentish Town

Back in the 90s it was difficult to get a table at this the unassuming little eatery on Kentish Town Road. Folk in bootleg trousers and platforms stood in queues jutting out of the door and it was raved about by Giles Coren and other foodies – Pane Vino was the place to go for Italian food outside of Soho.

Now that the hype has died down, chef Stefania is trialing ways to get the customers back in. So what’s new?

Campari Spritz

A cocktail menu boasting a sophisticated “Campari spritz” sparkling with zesty twirl of orange peel. More festively red and with more depth than summer’s fashionable Aperol spritz, it’s got the nuts to stand up to winter.

And the food? Will her new venture into trendy ‘Stuzzichini’ (translating to small plates), bring in the cool crew and tempt back the once regulars and some new faces?

Bresola Crudo and Prociutto

First up? Folds of cured meat topped with a smoky, meaty slice of roast aubergine. At perfect temperature and all imported from Sardinia, we pulled apart the buttery bresola, crudo and the favourite a darker, thicker goat prosciutto with a peppery rind.

The intoxicating waft of basil hit us before we saw the creamy buffulo mozzerella resting on ripe tomatoes with cracked black pepper and drizzled with intense, fruity olive oil from a single yield that made us ooze “mmmms”.

Pane Vino has dunked NW5 in a Sardinian sauce. This cocktail and small plate union feels so Italian holiday. So we flow more into the get-away from it all spirit with an Americano, two parts Campari, one part margarita, muddled together for us by Frederica, who spent two years mixing cocktails on the Southern Italian coastline. When sipped with that oil, garlic, basil and tomato combo, rehashed in the crispy bruschetta it transports us straight to the beach.

Next up: the hot dishes starting with octopus. So tender that we asked Stefania how she got it that way. She explained without the space to hang the octopus, the inner city trick to tenderising the tentacles is to pop them in the freezer for 24 hours, then boil them otherwise the fish can still be tough after three days of cooking. Bingo. They softly poked out of a crimson red tomato garlic sauce with waxy potatoes.

Mussels on a ball pit of yellow fregola

 The feast finished with mussels: plump and bright orange resting on a ball pit of yellow fregola. “I think these might be your favourite” says Stefana. They were definitely up there but it was pipped by the stew. Fluffy white beans, tinged with tomato and steaming hot with fat parma sausage, bobbing in the garlicky red sauce. A real winter warmer. It’s like we are gearing up for fire works night. After every mouthful a “Ooh” or an “aah”.

So where have the roaring 90s crowd gone? Because there were no dud plates, in fact the food is faultless. If you’re talking Italian small plates it’s impossible not to compare Pane Vino to bustling Soho’s Polpo or closer to home; packed Pizza East. Pane Vino is strades ahead on the food steaks but fails massively on the buzz.

Perhaps the interior is to blame: the PVC pale blue polka dot table cloths and tightly packed tables are no match for the industrial cool of it’s Italian counterparts.

Most of these dishes are a fiver and the small plates are generous, so that is insanely good value. Stefania knows how good her food is, but not many others are in on the secret. Stubborn for too long, Pane Vino is finally trying to modernise - this menu is made for grabbing a couple of pals on a Saturday night and drinking enough Campari to fool you into thinking you’re in Sardinia.

323 Kentish Town Road