London: Where to Eat: Newcomers: Apsleys

Apsleys

For its new Italian restaurant, the Lanesborough netted both Nick Bell, former head chef of London’s acclaimed Cecconi’s restaurant and the legendary designer Adam Tihany (whose résumé includes Le Cirque and Per Se in New York and French Laundry in Napa). Bell imports all ingredients from Italy and innovative dishes on his modern Italian menu include beef steak Fiorentina with bone marrow sauce (carved at your table), wood pigeon ravioli and rabbit cacciatore. Meanwhile, Tihany’s Venetian-inspired décor is both elegant and unique: in addition to plushy sofas and huge chandeliers, there’s a dizzying collage painting by Simon Casson that’s composed of various images from classical works ( in one publication, Tihany said it “feels like a post-Renaissance artist on LSD”). The third most important player here is the sommelier, Andrew Connor (also from Cecconi’s) who oversees the 500 bottle cellar—where guests can personally select and decant their wine—as well as a wine list that features different Italian vintages every other week.