On February 14th, Aldo Zilli will open a vegetarian restaurant, Zilli Green, on the site of his former flagship restaurant Signor Zilli. Inspired by his appearance on Celebrity Fit Club, the new venture on Dean Street will celebrate his newfound commitment to healthy living and reinforce the message that vegetarian food doesn’t have to be dull. With only a handful of all-veg restaurants managing to impress London’s foodies, this could be a welcome addition to the meat-free dining scene.
Aldo explains, “This year marks my 30th anniversary as one of Soho's original restaurateurs. At the time, I brought a fresh approach to Italian food to London and I want to mark this anniversary with an equally exciting approach to a healthy way of life that everyone can enjoy.”
If you’ve walked down Dean Street this week, you might have noticed the old Signor Zilli furniture piling up outside as the place is being rapidly remodelled in time for it’s Valentine’s Day launch. The new interior will feature reclaimed wood on both the floors and tabletops, a colour palette of soft greens and browns, and low hanging lamps in the shape of plants - just in case you’d missed the no-meat message.
The Head Chef will be Enzo di Marino, a vegetarian chef who trained in the Abruzzo region of Italy before a stint in Japan. His food, prepared in a meat and fish-free kitchen, will be inspired by vegetarian dishes from around the world, while the ingredients will be sourced from local producers.
The menu (available online here) offers starters like goats cheese and Jerusalem artichoke tart; red lentil and barley soup; and vegetable tempura - all priced under £6.00. Aldo’s Italian influence is evident in a predictable pasta section, while other main courses include a curry with quinoa and ‘platters’ offering Japanese tasters and mezze. If Zilli is hoping to push the boundaries of meat-free cuisine, he might want to rethink a few things - tofu skewers or veggie burgers and bangers anyone?
Still, if we ever get tired of the burgers at Byron or the mince and tatties Dean Street Townhouse, we'll be sure to pop in for a few leafy greens.
This is great news. The more high end veggie options in the west end the better! The veggie tasting menu at Clos Maggiore is stunning but expensive. Hopefully this will be a more reasonable but delicious offering. Well done Aldo. At last a forward thinking chef.
Posted by: Zee | January 28, 2010 at 10:22 PM