The high-end restaurant is bringing a taste of Italy to Mayfair.
Bestowing Albemarle Street with an Italian sensibility is a restaurant inspired by bygone summers in Sicily, Amalfi and the Southern isles. Opened last October, Il Gattopardo, translated from Italian as “The Leopard”, offers a contemporary take on an authentic Italian experience.
Created by executive chef Massimo Pasquarelli, a native of the Abruzzo region, the menu is diverse, with a dedicated crudo bar that serves a selection of raw and marinated fish and shellfish, including the restaurant’s signature dish, Gamberi: Sicilian Mazara prawns with yellow chicory and buttery Taggiasca olive oil from the Alpes-Maritimes region.
‘The menu is diverse, with a dedicated crudo bar that serves a selection of raw and marinated fish and shellfish’
The first own-brand concept from the restauranteurs behind luxe Latin American restaurant Amazónico and the trendy Coya, Il Gattopardo is a lesson in Italian aesthetics courtesy of European design duo Dion & Arles, who have created a space celebrating the styles of Italian artists and designers Gio Ponti, Piero Fornasetti and Carlo Mollino. Their influence is present in the free-form sculptures, vibrant colour palette and tables topped with sepia drawings.
‘Il Gattopardo is a lesson in Italian aesthetics courtesy of European design duo Dion & Arles, who have created a space celebrating the styles of Italian artists and designers’
The 85-cover restaurant is sumptuously elegant, with a signature cobalt blue and leopard-print motif appearing on cushions, rugs and ceramic figurines. The dining room opens onto a salon with softly curved seating and an open fireplace, before revealing a hidden terrace with a retractable roof so that, come rain or shine, customers can be transported to balmy summer evenings under an Italian pergola.
Downstairs, a more intimate way to dine is available. Named Sofia after icon of Italian glamour Sophia Loren, the room seats 14 people for the ultimate private dining experience. The ceiling is swathed in a striped fabric reminiscent of the linings of Italian tailoring and the walls recall the panelling of a vintage Fiat Coupé dashboard. With its own dedicated bar, guests can indulge in the allure of 1960s cinema with cocktails named after classic films, including the Roman Holiday, a twist on an Americano with wild berry kombucha, and the Amici Miei, a Bramble-style cocktail made with homemade sambuca cordial, fig marmalade and Amarena cherry liqueur.
Bringing to life the true essence of la dolce vita, this high-end Italian hideaway is showing that life is for tasting, one espresso-soaked tiramisu at a time.