Bella Cosa, a new Italian restaurant in London’s Canary Wharf, is now open.
Located on the Quayside, the 70-cover site focuses on fresh, seasonal produce, with many ingredients with Protected Denomination of Origin status imported from Italy.
The kitchen is overseen by executive chef Kentaro Torii, who aims to bring a Japanese influence to Italian food, in terms of style, precision, and presentation. He has previously worked in the USA and Italy. Everyone else in the brigade is Italian.
Spread over two floors, the site has a central bar on the ground floor, and an open-plan view into the kitchen to allow customers to watch the chefs at work. The 10 seats located around the kitchen pass, named the Chef’s Isle, will offer guests an even better view. There is also a private dining room.
Typical dishes at the restaurant include homemade pizzas; seasonal risotto; grilled octopus with smoked potato puree, Trapani pesto, olives, and celery salad; a five cheese ravioli with saffron sauce, beetroot puree, suckling pig cheek and autumn truffle; and black cod in prosciutto, plus baby cuttlefish in black ink with polenta.
The drinks menu will feature mainly-Italian wines, also within a 16-seat wine-tasting room, while a 20-cover “artisan beer snug” will offer a wide selection of Italian craft beers.
The restaurant’s décor, designed by Francesco Pizza, will aim to offer a chic, sumptuous and luxurious look, with white tablecloths and red chairs, alongside natural materials such as marble, glass, rustic wood, and a “living wall” of green plants.