Amidst the imposing corporate skyline of London’s financial heart, L’Anima is a cool and clinical sanctuary to enjoy modern Italian cooking and design at its finest.

The Venue
L’Anima is situated next to a vast swathe of shimmering new office developments that are set to multiply the local workforce by several thousand. You only have to get an eyeful of their temperature-controlled fine wine vault to see that City slickers are the target audience at L’Anima, but as its exact location is a fairly short walk (5-10 minutes) from Liverpool Street, Old Street and Moorgate tube stations, and indeed the creative hotspot of Shoreditch, evening bookings may shake things up a bit in terms of the demographic.

The design of the venue has been curated by the much-lauded Claudio Silvestrin, who has the Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin and Georgio Armani stores in Seoul and Sao Paulo as his calling card. The result: a cool, clean, airy space that even on a swelteringly hot day allows you welcome relief.

Inside it's split into two main areas – the restaurant is the more formal setting with around 80 covers and the bar area (providing a further 30 or so places) is a smidgen more relaxed with dazzling white couches and long sunken tables to share a pizza or enjoy a prosecco from the extensive menu. The huge front-of-house glass windows let in streams of light and they’ve installed modest blinds to protect patrons from the suns glare if it becomes too intense.

It’s an impressive construction where big slabs of marbled rock dissect the restaurants back wall and glass portholes give vistas of the custom-built kitchen, although the drama that unfolds in here is a silent one, as no noise can be heard from the main dining area.

Out back, past the open plan kitchen is where the real extravagance takes place. The previously mentioned walk-in wine room is stocked to the gills with some of the finest Italian wines known to man and again there's a propensity of opulent marble in the private dining room, which would be a fitting setting to chew over a big deal.

The Atmosphere
Lunchtimes are lively affairs with a brisk trade and a buzzing atmosphere. The customer base is naturally made up of workers from the local City and as such there are more men than women in attendance. Well tailored suits are the order of the day but dressing more casually is not something that’s frowned upon. While the tables of men crack open another bottle of red over their important business lunch, don’t let this fool you into thinking it’s a male dominated affair. There are plenty ladies dotted around at the tables enjoying lunch and a glass of vino too.

The Food
L’Anima is the brainchild of Francesco Mazzei (formerly of St Alban) who, with the creation of this space, has realised every chef’s dream of launching his own restaurant. The food is quintessentially Italian with a leaning towards the classic influences of the south.

They’re being flexible by opening for breakfast, lunch and evening dining. In the morning they serve early birds from 7am with a selection of fruit salads (£4.50-£9.75), Eggs Bendict (£7.25) and full Italian or English breakfasts (£14.50 and £12.50). Espresso coffee is, of course, a house specialty.

Credit must be given to the proprietors for providing plenty of cheaper, more affordable options on the menu to complement the higher-end experiences. For all of the more expensive main courses like their trademark fish stew with trademark Sardinian fegola (£20), there are affordable ones like the good wholesome home cooking of the zitoni, n’duja and aubergine pasta, which can be ordered as a starter for £7 or as a main for a very reasonable £9.

This carefully thought out pricing means, even if you may think its going to be prohibitive to the average wallet, it is in fact within reach, not only for those who can stick it all on their end of month expense sheet, but also to those who are looking for a quality meal without breaking the bank.

Starters (£6.50-£14.50) can bump the bill up quite considerably, but the wood roast aubergine and barrata (mozzarella – filled with fresh cream) is a real delight at £8.50. The pulped base of sweet and tangy aubergine is the yin to the yang of the creamy mozzarella mound. A slight modicum of green pesto gives it a hint of basil and their sourbread is delightful to finish it off with.

At £14.50 the fristo misto (fried mixed seafood) with lemon comes with a price tag that may make you think twice, but the clean delicate crunch of the batter and the freshness of the seafood shines through and makes you wish you were by the sea in the Mediterranean.

Desserts (£6-£7.50) include a regularly rotating mix of in-house handmade ice creams that are a nod to Mazzei’s childhood working in his Uncle’s ice cream parlour. As you would expect they are exceptional as is the sorbet that accompanies the exquisite rhubarb tarte. The cute almond-infused cake wafts around your senses as it arrives on the table and the combination of toasted nutty exterior and the warm and moist rhubarb filling, along with the intense sweetness of the sorbet makes it a dessert that’s hard to better.

The Drink
For such a proud Italian enterprise it would be criminal not to represent their homeland on the wine list and L’Anima don’t sell out here as around 70% of their list is Italian. One of the world’s most exceptional wines, the intensely rich Barolo from the world-famous Piedmont region takes pride of place in the wine cellar and the Barolo Damilano 2002 can be gushed over at the table for £55 a bottle.

Thankfully there are much cheaper options (starting at £17 a bottle) and the rest of the selection comes from the likes of France, Portugal and Australia. A bottle of prosecco at £28 (£6.50 for a glass) is a great way to enjoy a drink with a partner or friends before dinner and champagne goes all the way from £44 to £170 for a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee.

Finally, their fine wine selection is most definitely for those who feel the need to splurge their bonuses on a money-no-object night out. These start at £75 and ascend to £650 for a 1998 Masseto Tenuta Dell’Ornellaia.

The Final Word
Make sure you head to L’Anima for a master class in the two complimentary bedfellows of Italian food and design.

venue information venue map view london review add a review image gallery (9)