Walthamstow's famed pasta joint relocates to the Hitchcock Hotel
Plus: newcomer Solaris debriefed, San Marino's 30 breakfasts, why Forest Tavern rocks, Nuevo Sur's next chapter - and limited tenner roasts in Leyton
Nearly five years ago, during peak Covid, a former gymnasium just behind the buzzing Ravenswood Industrial estate in Walthamstow received a glow-up. With an eye-catching revamped exterior dominated by a vast mouth-and-fork-in-hand mural, created by the illustrious Wood Street Walls collective, inside was new Italian restaurant, Arte e Pasta. And word quickly spread.
Originally founded by couple Ben and Joanna Anastasiou-Milne, it was the ambitious sister of Wanstead’s more established Bombetta, which had opened next to Snaresbrook station in 2016 and attracted both rave reviews and a regular clientele.
Part of the appeal of Arte was its creative hangar-like space, where you could perch at the counter for a more intimate experience — as I preferred — or in the noisier main dining area. For their menu of handmade pasta, antipasti and secondi — blending Italian cuisine with “the Moorish influences of Puglia,” as they put it — ingredients were imported from Slow Food producers throughout Italy by their food wholesaler arm The Chef’s Deli, also housed alongside Bombetta.
I visited both restaurants but found that the starters at Arte e Pasta were especially impressive, whether swordfish carpaccio, or Ligurian anchovies with zesty orange, fennel and chilli. Afterwards you might plump for crab gnocchi with chilli, red onion and dill butter, or veal ragu with silken home-made pappardelle — or even a saddle of lamb with smoked potato puree. And, although I never tried it, the tiramisu was apparently the stuff of local legend.
Sadly, Bombetta closed in 2024, while Arte e Pasta vacated its Walthamstow premises this summer. The good news? After a series of successful pop-ups at its new home opposite Hollow Pond, from tomorrow it becomes a permanent fixture — with longstanding chef Victor Garcia Diaz at the helm.
Now here’s a thing: did you know that the Sir Alfred Hitchcock Hotel, despite feeling like an ancient watering hole, only opened on Whipp’s Cross Road in 1981, a year after the director died?
With its quirky movie memorabilia, cosily wood-panelled interior and bucolic outlook, it should really be more of a global destination for fans of the director than it is.
On a personal note, it was also the first pub I ever visited in Leytonstone, back in the mid-noughties. And its interior and menu essentially remained unchanged until April 2021, when renovation work started after it was taken over by ex-Ivy duo Ruth Tulip and business partner Will Cabral.
First up was a reworked terrace, with outdoor rooms and manicured globe-shaped hedges lining the perimeter. Meanwhile, inside, in the pub itself, there’s teal panelling, bare brick, original wooden floorboards and a fireplace that roars in winter.
Ruth and Will’s real passion project, however was the launch in 2022 of the stylish Rear Window restaurant, an atrium-style glass dining room with banquettes and striking central cherry blossom tree.
While it swiftly acquired a rep for being one of the more glam E11 options for a candlelit dinner or boozy Sunday lunch, the partnership collapsed last summer and management reverted to the hotel owners, who maintained some of the Ivy-trained kitchen team and an approximation of the menu.
To increase the casual post-walk footfall, in January this year, the hotel created a ‘snack shack’, The Wrong Man, to add a much-needed coffee stop — and surprise jaffles joint — to the pub’s offer. But sadly, its owner Kevin Holroyd recently announced his departure to return to his native South Africa.
When I popped by this week, I discovered the cafe is at least still operating, now with a menu of wraps, club sandwiches and greater emphasis on breakfast, such as a Full English (£15.95, using Ginger Pig sausages) and various poached eggs options (royale, Florentine and Benedict).
But Arte e Pasta will surely increase the venue’s appeal further, as it takes over the elegant rear dining room, which has had a gorgeous makeover, with books, lanterns and a wealth of houseplants. A fine spot, in fact, to while away the forthcoming winter.
In today’s issue you can take a closer look at the new interior in more detail, and read about what to expect from the menu when the restaurant officially opens tomorrow. From Saturday 20th September. @arteepasta_
Leytonstone Tavern — #1 Sunday haunt
Last week’s Sunday roast feature proved a huge hit, with hundreds of shares on social media and 23k views.
Hundreds of you also voted in the poll for your favourite Sunday roast, above. And so it’s massive congrats to Leytonstone Tavern, the clear victor, bagging 71% of the vote, followed a long way down in second place by the Leyton Engineer on 12%, Coach & Horses on 8%, Red Lion on 5% and the European on 4%.
Expect a full debrief on the Tavern — and the others — as the autumn progresses. And scroll down for news of the local pub where you can pick up a very limited high quality roast for just ten quid next weekend (September 28th) — if you move fast.
Welcome to issue #49. As many of you will know, I’ve been publishing Leytonstoner now for over a decade in its various forms, and since the success of this Substack, it’s now pretty much a full time enterprise.
As I approach the first year anniversary, I’m grateful to everyone who both subscribes and has upgraded to paid and continues to keep this 100% reader-funded newsletter in Substack’s Top 100 Food & Drink leaderboard — it’s currently at #87 globally.
If you’ve yet to take the plunge, for just £5 a month (or £49 a year, just 94p a week) you can bask in local food and culture stories, frank restaurant reviews and the latest foodie gossip. Other ways to support include hitting the heart button (for the all-important Substack algorithms), or sharing with friends for up to six months’ credit.
Behind this week’s paywall:
Solaris — a Beginner’s Guide to the new all-day cafe on Leytonstone’s Church Lane
Why Bamboo Mat/ Nuevo Sur is permanently closed — and what’s coming next to the Leyton Midland venue
What to order on Leytonstone stalwart San Marino’s menu, which lists a mind-boggling thirty breakfasts
Where to get a quality £10 roast next weekend — if you book quick
A Forest Gate wander — and why the Forest Tavern nails it
Exclusive news of Tilbury Road’s next free festival — plus all the week’s pop-ups, one-offs, foodie happenings and rumours