Flirty taste of Italy

I thought the flirtatious 'bella signora' school of Italian waiter had swaggered off to the great trattoria in the sky. But no, he's alive and twinkling in Wandsworth, waltzing with middle-aged women, in this case, Amici's consultant and Italian cookery authority, Valentina Harris.

He caught us in his headlamps, making a pair of hard-boiled dames come over rather more simpering than is our wont. Oddly, we quite enjoyed it.

We also almost enjoyed the food: solid, local restaurant style without scary flourishes to frighten the locals. It tends to lack character though: fridgecold salmon 'carpaccio'; glorious gnocchi - astonishingly fluffy and light. Its ragu of lamb could have been anything; a weird, semolina-ish almond semifreddo.

There are good elements: those gnocchi, for instance. Or the accompaniments for our (slightly overcooked) sea bass: 'pesto' of almonds and tomato and skinned roast peppers. Suckling pig was moist and tender but lacked the liquoricey, herby punch of proper porchetta; and the less said about the strip of burnt-tasting crackling, the better.

Some firstclass Tuscan salami and aged pecorino came in at a painful £7.50 for a tiny plateful.

Amici ('friends') failed in its previous incarnation. This slick set-up looks set to go the distance - despite the rather lacklustre cooking. Maybe it's the flirtation.

Amici Bar & Italian Kitchen
35 Bellevue Road, SW17