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Prepare to carb load like never before. Next month, Soho’s beloved deli and restaurant Lina Stores will bring its Italian fare to the City, launching a 90-seat restaurant in the Square Mile’s Bloomberg Arcade on October 15. Naturally, it has been designed in Lina Stores’ signature pistachio hue, featuring the instantly recognisable green and white stripes that have been part of the Italian food purveyor’s identity since it first opened in Soho in 1944.
The trademark pastel colour palette will be echoed throughout the space, from the planters outside the entrance to the striped curtains and the dining room’s jade banquette seating. A circular bar will take centre stage and feature an eye-catching bottle display running alongside the impressive circular staircase, the top of which will open up into a spacious mezzanine for private dining gatherings for up to 40 people. And the best thing? A new terrace running along the front of the restaurant where diners can enjoy the views and pretend they’re in Italy while in the City of London.
The shiny new site, which takes over the site that previously housed Andrew Wong’s Chinese roast meats restaurant Kym’s, will offer sharing secondi dishes, including lamb shoulder with salsa verde or a plate of garlic, chilli and tomato grilled prawns, alongside antipasti starters and fresh pasta favourites such as truffle tagliolini, pumpkin agnolotti with butter sage and Mafaldine alla Carbonara.
‘We’re so proud to arrive at Bloomberg Arcade with a location that is all about the Italian art of celebration,’ says Lina Stores head chef Masha Rener. ‘Sit at the bar for aperitivo hour, host a large party at our new mezzanine or simply enjoy a plate of our homemade fresh pasta.’
As for drinks, there’ll be an entirely Italian wine list featuring organic and biodynamic bottles, as well as orange and sparkling wines from Emilia Romagna, including Lambrusco and Franciacorta. Plus, plenty of classic cocktails such as Negroni, Rosmarina and Limoncello Spritz. Saluti!
Lina Stores City, 19 Bloomberg Arcade, EC4N 8AR.
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