Be an Italian's special guest

Being a creature of habit, I am probably among the least qualified of Londoners to write about food; the job needs a sense of daring, a taste for adventure, an appetite for experiment - not the prejudices of one who knows what he likes and likes what he knows.

But then the strangest of people are to be found reviewing all sorts of things these days. So, in the full knowledge that I am joining the ranks of the "know-nothing/know-it-all" brigade, I will give you my two tips for a really good eating experience in our increasingly fair city.

My first choice is a new venture in an area historically unkind to new ventures, L'Angolo, at the Chiswick end of King Street, Hammersmith. You might think from a cursory glance at the name that I am recommending a place where you can sample African cuisine, but the word is simply Italian for "the corner". And Italian for "delicious" is what you will find within.

We have all had the experience of going into yet another Italian restaurant to discover the same menu on offer as in every other Italian we have ever visited.

But at L'Angolo, you immediately notice such starters as carpaccio di pesce spada (swordfish carpaccio with courgettes and tomatoes) and tegamaccio di cozze (sauté of mussels with a fresh tomato-garlic-white-wine-and-chilli sauce) on the menu, giving you a hint that this place stands out a bit from the crowd.

Actually, the basket of focaccia and olives that arrives as soon as you sit down makes you instantly aware that someone is making an enormous effort.

That is Saraa and Matthew, a young married couple who have put everything they own into their dream of running a ristorante, and who put everything they have got into making anybody who sets foot in the bright, bare-boarded L'Angolo feel special.

So often I have eaten good food in this town, but in an atmosphere that is mercantile, impersonal or hollow. But these two attractive and optimistic young people really talk to their customers in a way that makes you feel you are a personal guest at a fun dinner party.

The blackboard announces the specials of the day, such as home-made lasagne or a spaghetti langostini (spaghetti with langoustines, in a courgette-cherry-tomato-white-wine sauce); there are superb pizzas on offer, made using their home-made dough and exciting combinations of ingredients; and a number of unexpected delights including trancia di tonno (tuna steak served with mussels and courgettes), gamberoni alla diavola (sautée of king prawns, in a garlic-tomato-chilli-white-wine sauce) served with rice and a crab-meat sauce, and costoletti di agnello al pistacchio (lamb cutlets in balsamic vinegar, with pistacchio and aromatic herbs).

So, yes, it may be a modest neighbourhood Italian, but it is full of nice surprises, including laughing hosts who happily say: "If there's something you want that is not on the menu, we'll make it for you." If ever an enterprise deserved to thrive, it's this one.