Published: 10 June, 2010
by MATTHEW LEWIN

I NEVER saw one of Fabrizio’s remarkable metre-long pizzas, but if it tastes anything like the regular pizza I had, it must be quite some production. It’s meant for three or four people, of course, which is why I limited myself to one that was a mere 14 inches in diameter.

It was very good, with smoked provola, mozzarella, goats cheese and gorgonzola replacing the usual stuff you usually find on a quatro pazzi or quatro formaggi. The dough was thin, crispy and tasty, and although they charged £1 more for a few slices of salami on top, it wasn’t bad value at £8.20.

In fact all the food we had was good, so why were we the only people in the restaurant on a Wednesday evening?

I think it’s because the restaurant has something of an identity problem. It can’t decide whether it should be a cheerful Italian café and pizzeria with a really kitsch painting on the window and an equally crudely painted Coliseum on the wall inside, or a more sophisticated Italian restaurant serving superior food. So it tries to be both, and I think that’s a mistake.

Had I not been so interested to see what had replaced the much-missed Persian/Indian restaurant called Parsee on that site, I’m not sure I would ever have gone in. Which is a bit of a shame, because once you are inside, you will find Fabrizio full of enthusiasm and friendliness, and the food is very good.

He does things like deep-fried zucchini flowers, olives stuffed with meat as well as something really enticing called suppli –  breadcrumbed fried croquettes made of rice and filled with mozzarella cheese, served with a Bolognese sauce. There are some unusual pasta dishes (tagliatelle with ricotta and toasted peanuts, for example).

A little basket of pizza dough garlic bread arrived with Fabrizio’s compliments and he came over to tell us of the specials of the day. One of these was an ingenious starter salad that I had, with mainly green leaves enlivened considerably by some fried pieces of pizza dough.

My Chief Culinary Adviser fared equally well, starting with lovely mussels pan fried with garlic and chilli and served in a tomato sauce. Her main course was a beautifully chargrilled sirloin steak with served with some rocket, parmesan shavings and a red wine reduction. 

I think there was supposed to be some fresh tomato salad with it as well, but that really amounted to one cherry tomato cut in two. It wasn’t exactly cheap at £14, and if you wanted some vegetables or sauté potatoes, that would have cost another £2.25.

Fabrizio himself was charming and friendly. He plied us with limoncello and talked about the restaurant, his predecessors and his interesting ideas about Italian food.

The bill came to just over £20 a head for our two courses, which was far from unreasonable. But I think Fabrizio is going to have to decide which way he should take his restaurant.

Another Italian restaurant in the area, worth looking into, is Quinquecento, in Holloway Road.

SUMMARY

Very decent Italian food and pizzas from the former chef at La Gaffe in Hampstead. Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner. Expect to spend around £25 before drinks and service.

Rating: 

Fabrizio’s
34 Highgate Hill,
N19 5NLTel: 020 7561 9073

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