Big Mamma, the French group behind Instagrammable Italian restaurants such as Ave Mario, Gloria Trattoria and Circolo Popolare, has announced that its new restaurant Jacuzzi will open in January 2023.
The new site, at 94 Kensington High Street, is described as a “divine Italian mansion where the naughtiest fantasies come to life”.
While the group’s most recent London opening, Ave Mario in summer 2021, drew inspiration from the Duomo in Florence with its black and white striped walls, Jacuzzi is described as more like a “palatial villa”.
The 4,000 square feet, 170-seater restaurant is spread over four floors and boasts of a lemon tree, a stucco ceiling, a botanical mezzanine, a retractable glass ceiling, and a plush green boudoir (with murals). The basement vault of what was a bank in the 19th Century has also been transformed into a “disco toilet” – not quite sure what the Victorians would make of that, but Big Mamma has form in making flash lavatories, with the illuminated mirror at Ave Mirror becoming a popular selfie spot.
Head chef Manuel, from Naples, will be serving dishes including Culatello di Zibello PDO (a cured meat from Parma made from a pig’s leg stuffed into a pig’s bladder – yum) and pizzette topped with seasonal ingredients (including truffle and caviar, of course). Then there’s the cheese wheel pasta for two: made in a four kilogram wheel of Pecorino, it is then made even more decadent with a Parmigiano foam, truffle cream, and fresh black truffle for good measure. If you’re not completely stuffed, there’s a shareable chocolate fondue too.
The wine list is dedicated to celebratory sparkling wines, such as Franciacorta.
To read about more of the UK’s most Instagrammable restaurants, click here.
