Artigiano. Located right behind the impressive St Paul’s Cathedral, this restaurant seems small and unassuming. But they lure you in with the promise of exquisite cocktails, tapas, and pizza … and keep you there with a beautiful ambience, intimate and romantic, yet still casual enough to make it great for a night out with friends. Kassandra and I visited them for a late Wednesday evening meal, and we were definitely in for a treat.
Artigiano Cocktails
Cocktails are a good idea to get any evening flowing. I’m usually a Cosmo girl, but Artigiano persuaded me to try something different, and Kassandra and I both went for gin-based cocktails. She had the Gin Cobbler, with wild berry-infused gin, ruby port, sweet sherry, lemon juice and mint (£9.50). I opted for the Mediterranean Rose Spritz, with gin, rose tincture, amaro, orgeat syrup, orange blossom and Fever Tree Mediterranean tonic water (£9.50).
Looks-wise the Gin Cobbler was definitely the prettier one of the two, but Kass and I both preferred the Mediterranean Rose Spritz. We’re both in love with marzipan, and that gorgeous amaro flavour comes through perfectly in this cocktail.
The Menu
We browsed the menu while sipping our cocktails. It’s a small menu, consisting of a handful of tapas, pizzas, and sharing platters. But this doesn’t mean that there isn’t ample choice. We tried a bit of everything, and ended up ordering the Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Potatoes (£4.50), Hummus (£4.95), Grilled Halloumi (£4.95), Chorizo & Prawn (£5.00), Prosciutto & Funghi Pizza (£11.95), and the Charcuterie Platter (£12.95).
You definitely wouldn’t need to order as much – this was enough food for a party of three! A handful of tapas with a pizza or a platter is plenty. Everything was good, but we definitely had our favourites. Of the tapas, the Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Potatoes with their delicious accompanying garlic aioli was definitely my favourite, while Kassandra loved the Hummus. And we both absolutely loved the charcuterie platter. Kassandra and I are both German-Namibians, and though we’ve lived all over the world, meat is still a very big thing for us. And nothing quite beats a good charcuterie platter.
But Wait, More Cocktails …
Obviously, with all this gorgeous food, more cocktails were definitely in order. Artigiano’s Italian bartender, Nick, ended up giving us a host of suggestions, and, eventually, we let him create whatever he wanted to create and have us taste it.
So we also ended up having the Gin Fizz No 5, with homemade Hibiscus gin, crème de peche, strawberry cordial, lemon juice, egg white, orange bitters, and rhubarb soda (£9.50), Secret Sour, with fresh pear, amaretto, lemon sherbet, cinnamon, and egg white (£9.50), Lover’s Bane, with melon-infused vodka, hand-crafted blackberry and lavender cordial, limoncello, and prosecco (£9.50), and a twist on the classic Tom Collins (£8.00).
Daytime Goodies
It was definitely a good night, and so starkly different from their daytime experience. I had visited them a week prior for lunchtime sandwiches and coffee, and found it to be a great space to pop out my laptop and get some work done. No one bothers you, the coffee keeps flowing, and the atmosphere wavers between quiet and bustling. They also cater to the takeaway market, so if you work in the St Paul’s area, this is definitely the spot to grab your next lunch.
Visit Artigiano
All in all, Artigiano is pretty epic, a chameleon of spaces – bustling during the day and quiet at night – that has lots to offer. They also have other locations available in Exeter and Fenchurch Avenue (coming soon).
For all information on Artigiano St Paul’s, see below.
Artigiano
Address: 1 Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7DX
Website: www.artigiano.uk.com
Call: +44 20 7248 0407
Written by Benike Palfi
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Article Date: September 2019
Photos by @delishkass.
All information correct at time of publication. We do not accept any liability caused by errors, including, but not limited to, changes in price, menu, opening times, address, or other contact details.
All images, unless otherwise stated, belong to I Love Foodies and may not be used for social media, websites, or any other form of advertising without written consent, unless an image is re-posted to directly advertise and link to this review, and with credit given to @ilovefoodiesct AND @delishkass.
