Legendary Italian delicatessen Lina Stores has been a Soho institution since 1944, with many an ardent pasta fan making a pilgrimage to its Brewer Street corner site. Now, almost 75 years later, the owners have opened a restaurant a few blocks away on Greek Street.
Architects Red Deer, unsurprisingly, took their cues from the original store, echoing its distinctive pistachio green-tiled, black and white facade in the new space’s interior and exterior colour palette. Diners are greeted by a mosaic floor embedded with the restaurant’s name, a green- and white-striped awning, and pale green cement tiles, leading into the two storey 53-seat space.
Art deco aesthetics flow through the ground floor 12-seater bar, with its sleek aluminium and formica countertop, padded green leather stools, fluted glass panels and globe lighting, and continue downstairs into the intimate basement restaurant, which sports a vaulted ceiling and raw whitewashed walls. Graphics, meanwhile, are by London design agency Everything in Between, who added a neat touch to the tiny tables, inlaying each corner with the letters of the restaurant’s name.
When this place is busy, which it invariably is, the poor acoustics mean you may have to speak loudly to your dining companion, but it’s a fair sacrifice for the hearty offerings of pasta, all handmade daily on site, tossed with simple but tasty ingredient combinations. A ricotta and herb gnudi with sage and brown butter was hard to desert, but leave room for dessert as there are top-notch cannoli on offer. Lina Stores’ restaurant looks on course to be another Soho institution.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
51 Greek Street
-
ICON 4x4 goes EV, giving their classic Bronco-based restomod an electric twistThe EV Bronco is ICON 4x4’s first foray into electrifying its range of bespoke vintage off-roaders and SUVs
-
‘Dressed to Impress’ captures the vivid world of everyday fashion in the 1950s and 1960sA new photography book from The Anonymous Project showcases its subjects when they’re dressed for best, posing for events and celebrations unknown
-
Inside Camperlab’s Harry Nuriev-designed Paris store, a dramatic exercise in contrastThe Crosby Studios founder tells Wallpaper* the story behind his new store design for Mallorcan shoe brand Camperlab, which centres on an interplay between ‘crushed concrete’ and gleaming industrial design
-
For a taste of Greece, head to this playful new restaurant in London’s ChelseaPachamama Group’s latest venture, Bottarga, dishes up taverna flavours in an edgy bistro-style setting
-
A buzzy Korean pop-up becomes a permanent fixture in East LondonChef Joo Won has turned his Calong pop-up permanent in the arty enclave of Stoke Newington
-
New London restaurant Alba is a sun-soaked affairIts name meaning ‘sunrise’ in Italian, Alba is a new Amalfi-inspired restaurant set to shine in Knightsbridge
-
Now boarding Air Anya: Anya Hindmarch’s ode to aviation’s golden ageAnya Hindmarch’s new London concept store and travel accessories collection celebrate the glamour of 1970s air travel
-
‘A place for carnivores’ – Ibai is a London restaurant that celebrates Basque Country beefA Clerkenwell restaurant where unhurried steak is the star of the show
-
La Môme London finds its home at The Berkeley hotelAll the razzle-dazzle of Cannes and Monte Carlo is wrapped up in this one fabulous dining room and terrace in London
-
The new dawn of the London sandwich shopThe appeal of a quick meal between two slices of bread has long held sway in the UK. We look back on the rise of the sandwich shop and explore the new wave of London venues that are making it a more stylised experience
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy designThere’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
