Caffe Espresso

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The 2011/12 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2011) edition.

Head chef and owner Piera Campanile is reluctant to let anyone else cook in her kitchen until certain they can make food ‘just like we would at home’. This straightforward confidence with food has won fans near and far and, together with the unique intimacy forced by a tiny space, goes part way to explaining the passion and loyalty Caffe Espresso arouses. Parliament’s media crowd trek up the hill for the Thursday minestrone, chock full of vegetables and steeped with prosciutto. High Court judges pop across for a pot of pasta or one of the 40 filled rolls on offer, like the Italian meatball ciabatta which comes sprinkled with parmesan and bursts with intense flavours of garlic, parsley, basil and onion. Students returning after the holidays come straight from the station, bags still in tow, to chow down on a legendary No.9 baguette – a combination of grilled spicy chicken, jalapenos, manchego, taco sauce and rocket so popular and cultish that Piera’s son Stefano has copyrighted it. Buying your lunch here isn’t a transaction, it’s an experience – and a heart-warming, life-affirming one at that.

• High point: One big hit of happiness
• Low point: Not for the claustrophobic