It can be hard to find restaurants that suit everyone, and fit every budget. There’s often a vegan, or vegetarian, or someone who is gluten intolerant, in the party. And you would think that Italian food, with all its Parmesan, prosciutto and panettone, would be pretty inhospitable for people on familiar terms with “no” as an adverb, except that the resident vegan in our house has been ordering Deliveroos from a little Italian cafe on James’s Street for quite some time.
Apart from its ability to keep one member of our family happy with its vegan choices, Bell Pesto Cafè, a former laundry turned cafe which opened a year ago, has come up with an innovative idea to attract night-time trade to this quiet strip near St James’s Hospital. A themed menu, which changes monthly, focuses on a different region of Italy, and is very affordably priced at two courses for €23.90, or three for €27.90. Emilia Romagna, Le Marche and Lombardia have already been covered, and when I visit, it’s Tuscany's turn.
The people behind this smart, simply decorated cafe are Simona Panti, her partner Enzo d'Elia, and their friend Tamara Barbato. They worked in the Steps of Rome, and Enoteca Torino in Inchicore, and the vegan options are a legacy of d'Elia's time as a chef in Happy Food, the plant-based restaurant at YogaHub on Camden Street.
The wine list is modest, starting at €26 for the house wine. A few more additions would be good, but it’s nice to see that all options are available by the glass. I somewhat blasphemously opt for the non-Tuscan Prugneto Sangiovese Romagna €36.50.
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Two of the three starters are bruschetta, so it’s a good thing that d’Elia’s sourdough is impressive, but that is the second thing I notice as the bruschetta stracchino e salsiccia lands on the table. The first is inadvertently honourable. It is a contender for least Instagram-able dish of the year, and as is so often the case with plain looking food, it is very tasty. The Tuscan sausage, which is spread across the crusty slice of sourdough, has plenty of porcine pungency, and the mild lactic flavours from the melted stracchino peep through. It is a cheese from Lombardy, not Tuscany, but I’m sure there’s good reason why they’re mixing up the teams here.
Our other starter, pappa al pomodoro – vegan, as it happens – is that clever Tuscan soup which finds a use for stale bread, the sourdough I would imagine. Chunks of bread are soaked in plum tomatoes, garlic and basil, making for a very thick, rustic and substantial soup. There is no doubt that the pasta for the pappardelle all’anatra is homemade. Big strands of pasta, some of them reassuringly misshapen, are tossed in a duck ragu and sprinkled with chopped parsley. I love the pasta, but find the ragu a bit lacking in intensity.
Italians claim that crepes originated in Italy, not France, and were brought there in the 16th century by Caterina de’ Medici, who married the future king of France, Henry II. Wherever the truth lies, crespelle alla Fiorentina, a savoury pancake, filled with ricotta and spinach, is one of Florence’s notable dishes, and d’Elia’s is light and tasty, topped with a dab of béchamel and Parmesan cheese. On the Toscana menu, the vegan main course is tortello de patate ai funghi – fresh pasta filled with potatoes and garlic with mushrooms in oat cream.
There are just two options for dessert: torta della nonna, a tart of buttery pastry filled with a light custard and topped with toasted pine nuts; and cantucci and mascarpone, a really delicious dish that is not unlike tiramisu, with the cantucci biscuits soaked in a coffee syrup and topped with a light mascarpone cream, dusted with grated chocolate. Neither of the dessert options on the Toscana menu are vegan, but there are vegan cakes and pastries available on the cafe menu.
It is a quiet night when we visit, and although you'll find vibrant restaurants and pubs on Thomas Street, the footfall is decidedly lower down this end of the stretch. Bell Pesto Café, with its simple nonna food, is the type of restaurant you could stumble upon in Italy, and while it is not another Grano, it has its charm. Everything, with the exception of the croissants for breakfast, is made in-house, and service is warm and generous.
If the phrase “festive menu” fills you (and your vegetarian and vegan pals) with dread, you are likely to be well clear of the usual suspects here. There’ll be no danger of running up a huge bill, and you’ll finish with a complimentary glass of limoncello.
Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was €82.30
- Verdict Rustic food, great value and great service
- Facilities Smart and clean
- Music Pre-2010s pop
- Food provenance Qualita Italiana, meat from Edmund Lloyd and Sons, vegetables from Freshpoint
- Vegetarian options Yes, and plenty for vegans too
- Wheelchair access Room is accessible with accessible toilets
