Restaurants

Pizzerias probably outnumber phone boxes in London these days. Furnace opened in 1999 and seems to have been busy every night since. The restaurant attracts local professionals who treat it as a pitstop en route to somewhere else. It’s an attractive place with high ceilings, lots of exposed brickwork, modern paintings and boxes of Barilla pasta decoratively arranged on shelves. Though daily pasta dishes are available, as well as meat and fish specials, customers come for the pizza. The open kitchen means you can watch your dough being flung around before it goes into the substantial wood-burning stone oven. The bases are thin and crisp and the toppings generous and inventive. The menu has changed little in the past decade, but why come up with novelties when you’ve got toppings such as suckling pig with sour cream, or gorgonzola with poached pears? We tried a margharita and another one topped with goat’s cheese, roasted peppers and rocket. The tomato sauce on both tasted beautifully fresh, and the goat’s cheese and peppers worked wonderfully together. Although there’s a varied Italian wine list, most customers stick with bottles of Moretti. After all, they’re not stopping.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009