"[...] Now at Tempo, a Japanese chef [...] is bringing his Eastern sensibility to an Italian restaurant that replaces what was once a melted cheese and peppermill-waving establishment called Franks. [...] The ground-floor dining space is made agreeably eye-catching by chairs upholstered in turquoise velvet surrounding glass-topped tables with the look of marbled end papers — maybe a nod to Heywood Hill bookshop across the road. On the first floor is a comfortable bar in a room with its original 19th- century wedding cake mouldings carefully restored where light dishes are served all day. [...]
Of three we tried, the best was insalata di polpo where crisp octopus tentacles neglected to predict the winner of the World Cup but did taste delectable, helped along by the presence of slender batons of raw apple and a scattering of flat-leaf parsley as well as the pomegranate seeds. Bruschetta of crushed fresh peas with mint and pecorino scored higher marks for prettiness than flavour; a fritto misto of just two ingredients, squid and whitebait, was rather pedestrian.
Joe thought that a carpaccio of swordfish would be a good test of a Japanese chef so that was his choice of first course. Mine was salad of Italian summer tomatoes. Transparent slices of raw fish shaded with grey and blushed with pink dotted with black olives, capers and some unheralded dill (a dubious addition to most dishes in my view) looked as pretty as a Japanese watercolour from the Meiji period but sadly the fish had no intrinsic flavour. The tomato salad, a mixture of red, yellow and purple varieties, was dressed with noble balsamic vinegar and shavings of Parmesan. It was wonderful; summer in a soup plate, the apotheosis of delicious simplicity — and £6.50, which seems a very fair price.
Tortelli with wild rabbit, pistachio and sage sported an imaginative combination of ingredients as well as delicate pasta coverings. Joe rather wished that the larger serving at £12.50 had been, how shall we say, larger? Grilled baby chicken served with barley and wild rocket was another unexpected and beneficial coming together of component parts and the chicken itself scored on a generous relationship of delicious charred skin to rather too innocent flesh. As “contorni” we ordered zucchini to test the chef’s frying skills and were rewarded with zucchini tempura. The two cultures really do intertwine most satisfactorily.
[...] Lemon tart was a strong contender in my best Lemon Tart of the Decade competition. Not a trace of cornflour, just a hammering zing of citrus and fine, friable pastry.
The wine list features top small producers from Italy. The Tuscan Fontodi Meriggio suggested by Joanna was pleasing but maybe not quite £39 good. I am looking forward to more experimentation in the bar before and after going to the movies at The Curzon Mayfair.
Tempo is a terrific addition to the street."
15th of July 2010
