So it's farwell to Insalata di Tonno e Fagioli at £6.50, Farfalle al Salmone at £8.50, and Saltimbocca alla Romana at £11.20 - La Vigna, an Italian family restaurant at 110 Great Portland Street, has closed its doors for the last time. A trio of chefs formerly with the Arbutus group are opening Picture, a new eatery aimed at the BBC, over the road in Broadcasting House.
21 of the 65 covers will be at a long dining bar - and the menu has got one bit of the current BBC culture wrong, with an emphasis on "sharing dishes". Manager Tom Slegg says they'll change regularly, but offers examples of "Smoked Eel with Date Puree, Apple and Cucumber", and "Slow Poached Hen's Egg with Mushroom Marmalade" (is that really a sharing dish ?) and "Tripe Gratin with Chilli and Butterbeans". Mmm.
There'll also be a set lunch menu at £20. Says Slegg "We want it to have a light industrial feel. There'll be no white table cloths, no pretence [in Tripe Gratin? Ed] and no pressure on people when they eat" (presumably unless they're late for the set lunch).
Whaddya think ? Trendy enough to tempt James Purnell away from the Riding House Cafe ?
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La Vigna was known colloquially by some staff across the road at Western House as La... well, it's a near-anagram of "la vigna"
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