My wife began with a rocket and parmesan salad and, for her main course, opted for penne with tomato and mozzarella. Neither made much of an impression. The only thing that really excited her about San Lorenzo Fuoriporta was the baby-changing area in the ladies' loos. 'They had three different sizes of nappy,' she said. 'I've never seen that before.'
To be fair, no one comes to San Lorenzo, whether in Wimbledon or Beauchamp Place, expecting a gourmet meal. It does what it says on the tin - and I imagine a tin opener is one of the chef's most well-worn utensils.
This is Italian comfort food at its most basic and, rather paradoxically, its most expensive, too. As if to underline this, the prices are given in pence, rather than pounds, so a whole lobster with mayonnaise costs 2,850p. If only that was lira!
On the day I went there it was slightly underpopulated, but then it was a week before Wimbledon got under way. There are five dining areas in total, including a minstrel's gallery in the back room, but only the front parlour was busy. It wasn't a particularly glamourous crowd, either.
There was an oversized woman sitting to the right of the door talking rather loudly about her love life. 'Oh, I didn't have any trouble conceiving,' she said to her dining companion. 'I got pregnant the first time I tried.'
Something tells me this wasn't with Boris Becker in one of San Lorenzo's cupboards.
