Ristorante Fiore

Really impressed with the food...and the selection of wines wasn't that bad either. Will definitely go back.
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aa
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, February 16, 2007

I would like to take issue with my own review of November 23rd. After being impressed the first time, I have returned two times, together with my partner. Both times the experience was terribly disappointing. The only consistently good thing are the main courses. The first courses were each time average or even below par. Sin of sins for a fine Italian restaurant, on one occasion the slices of bread were not fresh.

But it was especially the service which sank below the acceptable level. The last time (and it WILL be the last for us, not just the latest) we were made to wait for 45 minutes (after having booked) just to get a table! On arrival at the booked time, we were told there would be a wait of 5-10 minutes. We went for a walk and were back in 15 minutes, only to be told that it would be another 10 minutes...which proved to be 30.

The only thing one of us asked for during the wait was a glass of water, duly debited on the bill at the end. Not a single complimentary gesture, as any decent restaurateur, in Italy or anywhere, would have felt compelled to make (especially to customers returning alsmost weekly). A shame.

Luckily, gone are the days when one had to put up with shoddy treatment in Italian restaurants in the UK. The choices are now many and increasing (though we have a favourite that never disappoints). No reason for us or for anybody to go to Fiore.
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m.
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

What a difference the new management and chef have made!

I wrote a rather negative review on April 18th of this year. Now everything I didn't like then has disappeared. Out go the pushy, formal staff and in come the charming, friendly ones. Out go the unsuccessful culinary experiments (pasta with 'lobster' and Granny Smith apples) and in come traditional Italian flavours and combinations, yet presented and executed with flair, imagination and modernity.

I found the main courses (among the best I've had anywhere, including Italy, such as the pork fillet wrapped in lardo di Colonnata or the quail on a bed of red onions) better than the pasta courses (which were good but beatable). The chef manages to bring out stark, rich flavours from vegetableas and meat.

One note on prices: the set menu at £25 for three courses is very competitive. However, especially if you go for dinner your choice from the set menu is rather limited. We found that the most appealing dishes were only served a la carte, so the actual price was quite a bit more. And some appealing dishes on the set menu carry a supplement.

Overall, the new Fiore is in my experience among the very top value for money serious Italian cusine in London. I rank it above both Via Condotti (on quality grounds) and Locatelli (on value for money grounds), and not too distant below my favourite restaurant.
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m
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, November 23, 2006

I was there last night in a party of two, after hearing of the new chef (and management, apparently). My previous experience had been disappointing. This visit proved to be very pleasant. Ok, there was a bit of a problem with the lady taking orders, trying to agree that pasta is not an appetizer, but all in all the front staff was very efficient, available when it was needed, courteous without being overbearing.

We had rabbit ravioli and pumpkin gnocchi to start, which were nice, although I personally found the gnocchi too loaded with flour, and the rabbit filling for the ravioli a tad too dry. The mains were simply superb (pork fillet wrapped in lardo di colonnata with peppers and crispy leeks was outstanding, as was the roasted quail, both very flavoursome). The wine accompaniments suggested by the very helpful sommelier worked very well, and we did manage to find room to share a rather nice sesame parfait with fig coulis. We are planning to go back soon…
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PM
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

I had lunch there yesterday with my business partner. Although the initial idea was certainly not to sample sophisticated delights, we were soon reminded that simple pleasures are often the greatest. We opted for the £25 three course menu. Carpaccio and baked aubergine for starters, followed by pasta, his with sausage, mine with wild mushrooms and mains of tuna and neck of lamb: all perfectly cooked, subtly flavoured, unpretentious though nicely presented. On the very affable sommelier's recommendation, we ordered a little known white wine from Abruzzo called Pecorino - named after the grape variety, not the cheese, obviously... -. A real soft, fresh and flowery treat. Another treat was service: impeccable and friendly. Altogether, a great experience. At a very kind price. Bravo!
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PV - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 16, 2006

I recommended the restaurant to a friend of mine for dinner for a perty of eight people.The previous wek i had had lunch on two occasions at the restaurant and found everything from quality of service and food very good.The evening we had dinner was totally different.The service was no existent -interminably waiting between courses for food and wine.It got to the point when talking with the head waiter of this problem that he started getting agressive and defensive. The food when it did arrive was good ,but my overall experience which was emabarssing for me and my host will not persuade me to go back again until they change their head waiter and review the number and quality of staff they employ in the evenings.
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Simon Clough
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Thursday, October 12, 2006

Fiore is a treat. A cool, calm sanctuary on a blistering day, with food that both soothed and inspired - the best scallops I've ever eaten, and a sirloin with fig and almond sauce that astonished me. The tables are set well apart enough for truly relaxed conversation, and smokers may enjoy a cigarette in the bar area without any fear of disturbing other guests, or spoiling their food. Best of all? The staff. They have the happy knack of anticipating your every whim, and supplying it with just the right degree of elegant friendliness. I felt right at home. And I'll be going back.
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Penny
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, July 24, 2006

Fantastic tasty italian food, the risotto was very good, very reasonable price and friendly service. Will come back.

They change the chef recently and you can see the difference.
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chad
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Saturday, July 15, 2006

I just had lunch here with some colleagues and must say we were greatly impressed. With it being a stunning hot summer's day we decided to lunch outside and watch the world (and St James girls) go by. Despite having no outside tables for 4, the staff happily put together and clothed 2 tables for us, and proceeded to serve a fantastic assortment of swordfish carpaccio, seared tuna and clam linguini. I would definitely recommend Fiori for its fresh Italian dishes and friendly and helpful service.
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Beni P.M. Lazardi
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, July 14, 2006

How much can you put up with in exchange for a sublime carpaccio of seabass? We had to ponder this deep philosophical qestion when eating at Fiore on Easter evening.

To be fair, we went there in the full knowledge that it was a day when we wouldn't find the restaurant at its best, in terms of freshness of food and staff performance. However, we were amazed when, on trying the wine recommended by the manager, my partner realized that her glass smelled (of eggs, if you really want to know). When we pointed this out, the waiter, with great aplombe, unfortunately not matched by any apology - or by any comment at all for that matter - proceeded to remove the full glass and to just replace it with an empty one. There was no skeptical or disapproving face: just the most supreme indifference, to the point that we were almost amused. At the end of the dinner, we remarked on the smell issue to the manager who, with a grave expression, announced that he would look into this. Since he entered the kitchen never to emerge again before we left, we can only assume that he was busy slaughtering the dish-washing staff - though we would have been perfectly content with a simple apology.

Having got this off my chest, let me return to the carpaccio. Oh yes, it was one the best dishes I've had in London. Technical accomplishment is most moving in simple dishes, and this dish was as simple as it was perfect. Finely chopped tomatoes and olives provided structure while basil provided perfume. The warm carpaccio (for it was not marinated like, say, standard beef carpaccio, but gently cooked instead) was as delicate as you can desire fish to be.

The two pasta dishes we had before that had been just good but not outstanding (we blame the lack of absolute freshness of the ingredients rather than the execution - the Easter effect in one word). Tonnarelli with seafood is more or less standard. Linguine with 'astice' (strangely translated as 'lobster' on the menu) would be standard were it not for the slices of Granny Smith apples (OK, we were also surprised by the presence of a rich tomato sauce, as in Italy we often have this type of dish 'in bianco', that is olive oil and herbs). I can see the point of the apples, not least because it was needlessly explained to me by the insufferable manager (why did I capitulate on his wine recommendation after refusing all the other pushy offers of Champagne, Prosecco and whatnot?). The point of the apples is to add some pungency to the overall sweetness of the other flavours. However, my opinion is as firm as the apple skin stuck between my teeth: it does not work! The apples just look, and taste, as if they were there by mistake. Maybe chopping the apples into fine cubes (if this is geometrically possible) might work better to form a homogenous whole. I say this with all the humility an anonymous reviewer owes to such an accomplished chef as Umberto Vezzoli. But with the same humility I would also ask him: Umbe', isn't there anything else, in the whole damn universe of ingredients, to counterbalance sweetness?

The baked turbot, our other main course, was another simply conceived and well executed dish, disappointing only in the quantity, certainly not in the quality.

The pasticcere (pastry chef) Simone, too, made an everlasting impression. His great deserts alone might almost make us willing to brave again the pushy manager for a second try of Fiore, a restaurant where, despite some Easter unpleasantness, clearly some top cooking is going on, at more reasonable prices than in other celebrated places.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, April 18, 2006