A joy to be eating humble pie

Manicomio opened a couple of weeks ago in the newly renovated Duke of York Square, and is owned by Andrew and Ninai Zarach, who also have the successful Italian food product company Machiavelli.

Ninai is passionate about the produce and sources everything herself from Italy to supply several top eateries in London with salamis, oils, cheeses, pastas both dry and fresh, artichokes, fresh fruit and veg, and the most comprehensive range of organic eggs. Hence, Manicomio has its own deli selling Italian produce and Continental breakfasts of pastries, croissants, granola and muffins of every taste you can imagine.

Lunch is also available with a choice of five starters, five main courses, cakes, ice creams and 10 hot coffee and chocolate drinks. All delectable. But it's quite heavy going on the stomach and there are not many light alternatives. The restaurant and deli are light, airy and comfortable, with a lot of outside space that is heated and awaiting planning permission for a glass cover in the winter. The back of the deli is housed in a conservatory as well as having outside space. I took my mum, Sylvia, who is a Cordon Bleu cook, and James, a friend who lived in Italy for years.

We had lunch in the restaurant next door, but when I saw the menu my heart sank, because I was in the mood for a full threecourse meal but there was nothing I fancied.

Sylvia and James, though, seemed in raptures, so I made the best of it and chose at random. As we waited for our dishes to arrive, we were offered not bread and butter, but baby-garlic-and-olive oil focaccia. Delicious but too salty. Of course, I had six, with Sylvia telling James that I always did this and spoiled my appetite. I smiled back with gritted teeth.

The Zarachs' team includes Simon Flint, former head chef at Daphne's, and, before that, sous chef at The Ivy. He was the only candidate interviewed who was interested in the restaurant's concept, rather than his own personality and stamp. Already there is a real sense of teamwork here.

But back to the food. I couldn't have been more wrong about the menu. Despite a lifetime of hating mushrooms, as soon as James's dish of wild-mushroom risotto arrived I was digging in. I have never tasted risotto so good. When James finally got a mouthful, he agreed.

He had ordered this dish, he said, because he knew how hard it was to cook risotto properly outside Italy. Here, the mushrooms were very fresh and with different varieties to make the flavour unique.

Sylvia's starter of grilled tiger prawns with braised cannelloni bean salad was also a revelation. She said the stock was so light and clever that it allowed the beans and prawns to blend superbly. Of course, I couldn't resist. The prawns tasted so fresh it was as if I was eating them straight from the day's catch, with the other ingredients bringing out the strength of the flavour. Even the beans worked; I can't stand them normally.

Despite having polished off half of my companions' starters, I still managed to enjoy my own. The baby artichokes with rosevale potatoes was light and tangy and by the time I had finished, I was full. Too much bread and too much of everybody else's starters.