Xier - Removed from website August 2021 (closed) - Marylebone, London

Carlo Scotto has worked in some seriously stellar kitchens. The Italian-born chef kicked off his career in Naples' Michelin-starred Don Salvatore before continuing on through a series of similarly Michelin-starry kitchens, including Murano under Angela Hartnett and Galvin La Chappelle under the Galvin brothers, before taking on the role of head chef at Babbo at the tender age of 26. Now, for the first time, he'll be launching his own venture, which is not one but two restaurants: Xier and XR.

Located on Thayer Street in the heart of Marylebone, the venue is split between two levels. On the lower floor you'll find 62-cover casual dining operation XR and upstairs on the first floor the much more intimate 38-cover fine dining restaurant Xier. The design is stripped back, muted, minimalist. They've put to use an array of contemporary fabrics and lighting to create a cool space which puts Scotto's gastronomy in the spotlight. 

The ambitious tasting menu comprised of ten courses for £90 and genre hops through the Mediterranean, northern Europe and further afield to the east. It began with creamy stracciatella shot through with the sweetness of pollen, organic honey, calamondin and taro. Rose cured salmon was padded out with rich foie gras then shot through with acid from rhubarb and Bramley apple. Beef cheek was given further depth with bone marrow, then offset with peas and apple. We wrapped up the meal with a plate of Swedish cheese with fresh fizzy grapes. 

We were interested to see if Scotto's newest venture would be the sum of all his prior successes, and were pleasantly surprised. 

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