Svago

TRADING TIMES
LUNCH: Thursday & Friday 12.00pm to 2.30pm
DINNER: Tuesday to Saturday 6.00pm to 11.00pm

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
Kew’s High Street is looking promising as an eating stretch, particularly now that Svago has arrived, next to an excellent steakhouse and across the road from a lively Chinese restaurant. Svago is the Italian addition, but it’s unlike most suburban Italian restaurants. It’s a cosy dining room, with a bar at one side and bare tables placed on the concrete floor. The white walls are hung with gorgeous paintings, and there’s a blackboard stretched across one wall where the specials are written – and where little messages from happy customers remain. It’s noisy, cheerful and very professional.

The atmosphere is easy-going and, because it opens early, it’s a great place for a drink and a nibble after work. The food here is casual, in the sense that it is to be shared. The cooking is very precise and confident, with some imaginative twists. There are stuzzichini to start, little portions such as zeppole, fish and seaweed fritters that are reminiscent of the best street-food in Naples. The calzoncini are small pastries filled with endive and pine nuts. The dish of the day was a beautifully tender braised kid with potatoes enlivened with fresh peas. And the melanzane parmigiana is a knockout – an elegant stack of eggplant, zucchini and potato draped with tomato puree. The wine and beer list are solidly Italian, with an excellent range of lesser known Sicilian wines, some of which are available by the glass. The waiters are highly skilled and knowledgeable. Don’t leave without trying a cannolo for dessert – a tower of thin pastry filled with ricotta.

Rita Erlich