CARLOTTA

WORDS RACHEL EDWARDS - IMAGES COURTESY OF EIGHTYFOUR AGENCY

When you step, or should I say glide-through-red-curtain, into Big Mamma’s latest creation you’d be forgiven for feeling like you’re in a Sorrentino film. I half expected to look around Carlotta and see Sophia Lorene with a robust man smoking a cigar. But then you remember it’s 2024 in London and we have our own Sophia Lorene’s - the group of glamorous West London women wearing expensive perfume, the Canary Wharf businessmen, the influencers standing outside with lipstick that appears to stay on all night.

When we sat down we were handed huge menus which felt like the big fold out road maps that people used before Citymapper was invented or the newspaper that Gromit from Wallace and Gromit holds in front of him, moving his head from side to side as he reads it. As a 'grazer' (as my mum likes to call me), starters usually feel like the most exciting part of a meal, and I might just have ordered one of each if it wasn’t for our fantastic waitress who helped us settle on prosciutto, bread and arancini. 

The dishes were as extravagant as their surroundings, with the red wine appearing in large goblet-like glasses and a generous portion of prosciutto that would have been enough to feed four. The arancini, which runs the risk of being too rice heavy and dry, was perfect, especially with the saffron aioli.

Despite the grandiosity, you find yourself feeling incredibly relaxed. It's a great place to have good conversation. Perhaps it's the good lighting, the comfy chairs, the waiters with smiles that actually match their eyes. There's an element of privacy despite being busy. You can feel when a restaurant is desperately trying to stay on top of things, but in Carlotta it feels effortless.

We shared the pasta al vodka and the ravioli di parmagiani. The ravioli was amazing, and perhaps the only dish that could have been even bigger(!). We followed this with the chicken parmigiana which was good as a sharing dish but nothing too special. This turned out to be a blessing as it meant that we had room for dessert. Whether or not you’re a pudding person you must try the Carlotta wedding cake. In fact, you could walk in and just order the cake and leave satisfied. If all wedding cakes were as good as this I might be more inclined to add marriage to my to-do list.

Carlotta adds a vibrancy to the Marleybone restaurant scene. It is unapologetically itself, it's lively. A lot of restaurants are passing on the fun factor in order to achieve a serious, sterile (minimalist*) feel - not Carlotta. This is the place to go when you want to celebrate (or when you just fancy a fantastic piece of cake).

For more information and to book, visit: https://www.bigmammagroup.com/en/trattorias/carlotta