Tempo

 

Set over two floors in Mayfair, Tempo is a bastion of modern Italian cooking with superbly sourced, fresh ingredients, a chef from Japan and waiters from Russia. The décor is minimalist, with the garish turquoise velour seats the only thing in the ground floor restaurant which really catches the eye. But the strength of Tempo lies in its cooking, with simple but delicious menu of antipasti, carpaccio, pasta, risotto, meat and fish dishes, and sweets. Stand-out options include a melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, a well-balanced sea bass with fennel, tuna loin with roasted peppers, tagliolini with Cornish crab, and pappardelle with wild boar. The lemon tart also comes highly recommended by the affable owner. Delightful smaller tasting plates - cicchetti - are available throughout the day on the slick first floor bar, a magnificent Rococo-style room which is also available for private hire. There's also an Italian influenced wine list, boasting mostly affordable wines to be drunk alongside the excellent wares from the kitchen.