Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
A Quick Tour Round the Kitchen of Passione & Tradizione
Intrigued by the enthusiastic postings on HoL about West Green's newest restaurant, me and mine took ourselves off to Passione & Tradizione last night.
When I first spoke to the Italian owner-chef earlier in the year his plans were to use the premises primarily as a prep kitchen for his more upmarket Anima Curore in Kentish Town. It was to be a daytime operation with concurrent opening only whilst they were on site.
The reality of this area's low levels of daytime restaurant trade led to a change of plans. Fortunately for us, Passione & Tradizione is now open in the evenings. (Someone will need to check opening times/days).
The interior hasn't really changed from its Buonissimo days - and why change something that was pretty much okay anyway. But the menu has changed. It's moved on from its pizza/pasta only guise to slightly more grown-up repertoire.
In addition to a focussed list of traditional pizza and pasta dishes, there's a good selection of hearty Italian entrees. Chef Mustapha explained to me that his primary focus is on high quality fresh ingredients with simple but authentic dishes. If you want the fancier version, you'll need to head on down to Kentish Town.
By the way, although Mustapha's family hails from Essaoiura in Morocco, he was born and bred in Italy, so has grown up with the Italian culinary tradition. His passion for it and for food in general becomes quickly evident as you talk with him. (If you're wondering what brought him up this way, he's a local. He's lived on Langham Road for almost ten years).
So how does this passion translate on to the plate? Very nicely thank you is my take on it! We didn't go for the full-on meal, but for a lighter we-had-a-big-lunch-today top-up. We shared a Capricciosa Pizza, a Taglino Truffle (pasta) and a Semifredo Amarena to finish.
The passion for freshness and authenticity is obvious as soon as the first forkfuls reach your mouth. We both enjoyed the pizza with its chewy crusty base, genuine mozzarella and fresh toppings, but it was the taglino that stole my heart. Much to the chagrin of my French born mother, growing up, I had only disdain for truffles. Time and common sense has turned my head around since and I've become a fan of truffles in the hands of someone who knows what to do with them. The dish we ate last night was delightful - simple, very evidently home cooked and delicious. It's one of those all too rare dishes one marks down as one to have again
I like to finish with a short-sharp blast of sweet and the semifredo delivered that in spadesful (perhaps a spade too much if I'm honest). Cherry and raspberry flavours kept company with some shards of yoghurt meringue and dried cherries. As you'd expect, the espresso to follow was faultless.
Mustapha was out and about on the floor as we ate. He seems to have developed what looked already to be fast friendships with his customers just two weeks after opening. He, like all his staff, was very genuinely warm, welcoming and friendly.
Apparently because we were showing interest in the food, Mustapha invited us to come and look around his newly finished kitchens. He didn't so much want to show us the swanky new machinery, but the food he prepared in it. We saw the pasta dough and the four different kinds of flour he uses to make it. He explained that the pasta is only finally rolled and cut in to shape as each customer orders - and showed us how our taglino was made. We saw his food drier, in which we saw air-drying mushrooms getting ready for pizza toppings and raspberries drying for deserts. We saw the hulk of parma ham which isn't sliced till the order is in so it doesn't oxidise and lose its flavour. We saw the crucial ball of sourdough yeast ready for today's pizzas and we sampled some heavenly home-made caramel chocolate truffles.
It was one thing tasting the food during our meal, but just as understanding a great artist's brush strokes heightens your awareness of the quality of a painting, seeing the care and attention that goes into every dish at Passione & Tradizione certainly took my appreciation of the food to a new level.
When I told Mustapha at the end of the tour that I ran Harringay Online, he was first grateful for the publicity the site has given him, but I imagine also feeling that he could have taken a worse couple round the kitchen.
Thanks Mustafa and team. Whilst my desire to cut my calorie count will mean I'm not back every week, that Ribeye Blue Cheese Raviolo does sound very intriguing and it wouldn't be right not to try it, would it!
Passione & Tradizione: 451 West Green Rd (on the corner with Harringay Rd) , West Green, London N15 3PL
020 8245 9491
Tags for Forum Posts: passione and tradizione
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by LadyDianaSpencer on
-
Damn right, Hugh, a total gem of a restaurant.
By the way, I can confirm the ribeye blue cheese raviolo is to die for... and don't underestimate the humble tuna steak!!
-
Permalink Reply by EMC2 on
-
Following the heads-up from HOL's LDS and Hugh, I went with my nephew last night. We started with a calamari & a mozzarella - for mains, the ribeye blue cheese raviolo & the truffle pasta - with Semifredo Amarena and a panda cotta to finish. We shared everything, it was truly outstanding food. Nephew promptly booked to take his GF arriving from Ireland tonight.
Passione & Tradizione's phone number- 020 8245 9491.
-
Permalink Reply by Mavic Starfish on
-
Hi Hugh you may want to put a link to the other 3 threads about this great little "locally" owned restaurant, they deserve all the publicity they can get. There's already been lots of reviews by different people, and I'm sure he all want this to thrive and grow.
-
-
Thanks Hugh, and your review will hopefully bring lots of new customers over the Christmas period, perfect time to treat yourself people. I've just watched Rick Steins long weekend where he visited Sicly, so many mouth watering dishes I'd never ever heard of. That was the best thing for me about P & T, loads of dishes I'd never had before, looking forward to my next visit.
-
Permalink Reply by DTW on
-
Believe the hype people. It's that good. Pride and dedication is on show in the food.
Definitely worth a visit or two!
-
-
It's a shame that apart from pizzas you can't know what they will have till you go inside - and then you may have to ask what a lot of the things are as the chalkboard is devoid of information. We went last night and the menu was completely different from the menu posted above (as it changes every week) except for the pizzas and the sirloin.
The menu was also quite difficult to read unless you are seated in a particular part. It was also difficult to know what a lot of the items were as it was pretty much just one or two words. A simple printout menu would have been better as they could add a bit more info. Waiter was very nice but wasn't attentive despite there being very few others there - didn't seem like that was what he normally does. This made ordering difficult.
Had pizza (diavola, the spiciness on this was perfect) and a calzone, and while good I still prefer the pizzas from Durazzo.
It's a nice addition to the area and I can see why people like it, but for me I don't think I will go back till the menu seems more like a menu rather than "what I have left in the kitchen". They should also put the printed menu of the week in the window. Either way, worth a visit to make up your own mind.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
