Grace and Flavour

As a first-timer at Aurelia, the chic new Mediterranean bistro from the owners of Roka and Zuma, I felt like a fresh face at a party that had been bubbling elegantly for many decades without me. My guest and I ordered appetisers of zucchini fritti, and crisp baby squid with fresh green chilli, and tried to be engrossed in each other's scintillating chat, not in watching the door as endless Chelsea tractors trundled up Cork Street carrying Aurelia regulars: elderly

Aurelia, romantically lit and musically buoyant with experimental jazz, spans two floors, ground level and basement. Each party that arrived appeared hellbent on sitting in the basement, close to the open-plan kitchen. Some took tables, then returned to the desk to double-check. Some were spotted by the manager mid-appetiser and whisked away downstairs.

Not knowing any better, I was more than happy upstairs sharing a board of excellent lomo and ciabatta - Aurelia's charcuterie (Italian, Spanish and French) is definitely on par with Barrafina's. A sommelier prescribed Malbec to go with our plate of salt marsh lamb leg with anchovies in salmorigilio sauce. This lamb has been haunting my brain each time my stomach runs to empty ever since. Sliced, hot, vaguely rare lamb speckled with gooey lemon garlic oregano and parsley puddles. If I'm ever on death row, I want this lamb, served with dauphinoise potato, plus cavolo nero with parmesan and pine nuts.

The mascarpone cheesecake with spiced quince ice cream was good, but nothing, I'm afraid, beats the cheesecake at Shoreditch House.

One tricky part with Aurelia is that every dish is enough for two; the mantra is all about sharing. By the time the seared tuna arrived as part of our main, wonderful though it was, it didn't quite sit amicably with anything. But I'm prepared to become a regular to iron out such glitches. Who knows, I might even be allowed into the basement with the octogenarian socialites sporting Biba smocks and statement eye-brows. I've no idea what was going on down there but it sounded like quite a party.

AURELIA
13-14 Cork Street, W1 (020 7409 1370; aurelialondon.co.uk)