Eat & Drink
Originally published on Thursday, 17th March 2011
Spuntino
Italian-American snacklettes hit Soho.
61 Rupert Street, W1D 7PW - no telephone, no reservations.
Mon-Sat: 11am-midnight, Sun: noon-11pm.
Location
Right round the corner from Patrick Cox’s X-rated cupcakes on Brewer Street, Spuntino is innocuously nestled in between XXX DVD-rental shops, ‘toy’ shops and other salubrious tenants. It all feels rather fun and wink-wink rather than seedy though, so don’t let that put you off.
Vibe
The space is small (25 covers) and the punters like to chat – there’s a sense of community around the long bar lined with bolted-down stools, as diners compare notes on shoestring fries, mac & cheese and various sliders. You’ll get a warm welcome from the team hanging out behind the counters, and owner Russel Norman is generally in-house and all too happy to pass on recommendations too. It gets pretty packed as the no reservation policy has people lining up against the wall waiting for a space to open up.
Flavours
This diner affair is an avid exploration of Italian-American classics. The beef and bone-marrow slider is succulent and tender, mac & cheese arrives bubbling in a searing frying pan (apparently the Head Chef tried out 12 different recipes to get the perfect, stringy texture), and the salads (loved the baby gem and soft boiled egg combo) are a perfect fresh accompaniment to fried stuffed olives and gorgeous eggplant chips with fennel yogurt. Thinly sliced pineapple and liquorice ice-cream tastes like an amped-up Blackjack, and don’t leave without trying the peanut butter and jelly sandwich dessert. Kitsch at its best, and not hard to believe, as Russell told us, that he consumed 25,000 calories in five days doing ‘research’. Cocktail hour is also meant to be a mean affair with an ‘absinthe washed’ glass and teapot concoction.
Décor
The space is a triumph of lovingly exposed original Victorian glazed mosaics with an uncovered archway towards the back leading to the only table in the house. The American-imported ceiling’s been raised by a good meter or more, with bits and bobs picked up from flea markets across the pond making up the interiors. Metal goose lamps line the brick walls, a custom made red blown-glass ‘exit’ sign hangs above the door, and handcrafted wire cages cover carbon filament bulbs which hover over the pewter topped bar. Get messy with paper menus that double as placemats, and slop your ‘Cup of Joe’ from its tin camper cup. No fancy lattes to be found here.
Upshot
The laid back vibe coupled with clearly accomplished cookery is perfection – we could’ve hung out for hours if it wasn’t for the steadily increasing influx of traffic hungrily waiting for a coveted space at the bar. There may be no reservations but with opening hours from 11am ‘til late we’d recommend dropping in any time for a nibble – Spuntino, after all, does mean ‘little snack’.
