This is not your average Italian restaurant, this is authentic Italian food, using quality, fresh produce, sourced locally if possible, but many from Italy. They pride themselves on making as much as possible on site, like their bread, sorbets, pickles and of course pasta.
I contacted Raffaella, enquiring about vegan options and received an excellent response, offering me off menu options and choices, so on the dietary requirement front, they score highly.
On arrival I was immediately impressed, being told which wines on their menu were vegan, this is excellent attention to detail and much appreciated, so I chose a delicious Villa del Fiori Fiano from Puglia.
My photos do no justice to the food, the restaurant has perfect romantic low lighting, nothing worse than feeling you are sitting under a spotlight, so hence not ideal for taking photos, but the food was spot on.
I kicked off with a traditional Tuscan dish, Panzanella salad, simply bread, tomatoes, basil and olive oil and other ingredients, dependent on chef's preference, in this case golden beetroot, but that's the beauty, the ingredients speak for themselves. This dish could be dreadful, dull and boring, but I loved Fabbio's version, very much like I have eaten in Italy.
Their pasta is made with egg, so they made special egg free orecchiette pasta, known as little ears, originating from Apulia and traditionally served with broccoli, chilli and garlic.
I loved its simplicity, all my favourite ingredients in one dish and like my starter, this is the kind of Italian food I adore, my plate was clean. I was too full for pudding, maybe next time, as sgroppino, a sorbet of choice, blended with vodka and Prosecco sounded rather tempting.
Cucina Seventy Three was full on our visit, which is understandable, an intimate atmosphere, quality food, excellent service and dietary requirements handled really well. I will definitely return.
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