Restaurant Review - Zafferano

Zafferano is a fixture of Italian cooking in London. In 2012 it lost its Michelin star, which I found surprising, as my meals here had been very consistent. At the time of writing, three courses cost £46.50 per person. The wine list is extensive, with the best part of 400 wines available. The list ranges in price from £22 to £3,600, with a median price of £120. Mark-ups are not particularly excessive by central London standards (around 2.7 times retail price) but the list is heavily weighted towards the high end; only 8% of the list is below £40, and 58% of the list is over £100 a bottle.This reflects the affluent clientele that Zafferano aims for.

This is the first meal I have eaten at Zafferano following the departure of its long-term head chef. Pea soup with bacon was enjoyable, though the flavour of the peas could have been deeper (5/10). Spring vegetable salad with bagna cauda was not as carefully presented as it used to be, and I preferred the dressing of previous versions of this dish, though the salad elements were certainly good (5/10). Spaghetti with pork cheek and pecorino was a hearty, simple dish that was very enjoyable, the pasta excellent, the sauce full of flavour (6/10). Tagliatelle with morels was less good; although the morels were fine and the texture of the pasta was excellent, the addition of an asparagus sauce just distracted from the dish and unbalanced the flavours slightly (5/10). Monkfish with walnut and caper sauce was nicely cooked, the seasoning on the bold side (5/10). Iberico pork chop had good flavour, though the mash and spinach with it was quite salty, even for me (5/10). Petit fours actually were better than I recall, with a new pastry chef making some lovely moist rum baba, and soft fruit jellies with plenty of flavour (6/10).

The loss of the Michelin star seems to have been a self-fulfilling prophesy. I did not see any deterioration in food prior to the loss of the star, but the demotion caused the head chef to leave. The management have responded by increasing the number of covers, packing tables in tighter and reducing seating times e.g. by removing the canapé stage of the meal. This additional pressure on the kitchen seems to have caused a slight slip in standards, though ingredients are of the same level. This is still very good food, and the service is as polished as ever, but the food is not quite as good as it once was.

The notes below are from meals when Andy Needham was head chef.

They are obsessive here about the quality of ingredients, with many of these flown in from Italy three times each week. Chef Andy Needham even had an electronic hook-up to his agent in Italy, who showed him pictures of produce at the markets that morning for him to select; however Andy leaves in mid December 2012 and there is yet to be a permanent replacement. The best dishes are the salads and pasta and I often order three courses of antipasta, pasta and then main course, skipping dessert (desserts here are excellent, but not as good as the pasta). The risotto in particular is made in the traditional style and is excellent, such as a very good seasonal asparagus risotto that I tried in June 2012, and a lovely pumpkin risotto that I ate in December 2012.  The salads are uniformly superb due to the fine ingredients.  An example dish that stands out is tagliatelle of wild mushrooms, with perfect pasta and beautifully cooked wild mushrooms. The menu changes regularly with the seasons.

Bruschetta is in a class of its own here, the bread char-grilled rather than toasted to give it a smoky flavour that complements the wild mushrooms.  A lovely touch at the end might be a miniature ice cream cone with superb passion fruit ice cream. The wine list is no longer a bargain, but has well chosen Italian wines as well as some French heavyweights. Falanghina Vesevo 2009 was on the list at £29 for a wine that you can buy for around £7 in the shops, Jermann Vintage Tunina 2008 was listed at £89 for a wine that costs £29 in the shops, while for the many investment bankers that frequent Zafferano there are choices like Masseto Ornellaia 1998 at £960 for a wine that costs £361 to buy retail.

The atmosphere is relaxed, and the service exceptionally well drilled and very friendly.  There is the bonus here of celebrity-watching for those that indulge in such things: Mick Jagger is a regular, for example, and we were once seated next to Madonna and Guy Ritchie. Service is in the charming hands of Enzo Cassini, one of the best maitre d’s in London. I have been coming here on a regular basis since its opening, and stopped counting my visits when I got to 100.

Here are brief notes from a sample meal.

Bruschetta is superb here, with char-grilled bread brushed with garlic and then packed with wild mushrooms (6/10).  A salad of beetroots was prettily presented, both red and yellow beets with carefully dressed baby spinach leaves and garnished with hazelnuts (6/10). Excellent endive was served with pear and Gorgonzola dressing; in this case some more cheese flavour would have helped (5/10).

Scallop with baby leeks and saffron vinaigrette had a lightly cooked scallop with the leeks providing an earthy contrast to the sweetness of the scallop, and the saffron flavour was well controlled (6/10). White truffles were served with both excellent tagliolini and creamy risotto made from scratch (most London restaurants pre-cook their risotto). A nice bonus dish was an off-menu dish courtesy of the manager, Enzo Cassini. An egg from Italy fried and served on a bed of polenta with wild mushrooms and white truffle. The egg itself was lovely, the yolk almost red in colour – you do not get eggs like this in your local supermarket. The mix of the polenta and mushrooms worked well with the egg, all enhanced by the lovely scent of white truffle from Alba (7/10). We skipped dessert.