It was my friend Lucia who suggested meeting at Anima e Cuore to eat one evening and she kindly offered to book, which apparently turned out to be quite a challenge. It’s only open from 6.00-10.00pm Tuesday to Saturday and it’s during these hours, or just before, that you might find someone answers the phone. The next challenge is actually getting a table. Anima e Cuore has been causing an excited gastronomic storm since it opened in 2014 and is always fully booked. Yet from its appearance outside in an insalubrious part of Kentish Town in north London, if you hadn’t heard what was going on inside in the kitchen, you’d very likely walk straight past it. Quickly!
Great food if you can get them to do the decent thing and get their phone to take your reservation. Or at least call back when you leave a message. They think they are too cool for school and don't want anymore diners ! They expect you to make a trip there to make a booking and then dine there ! Poor, poor form.
Upon first glance, it looks like a small Italian deli. And truth be told, not a very good one. When we walked in, the staff ignored us for a little while before informing us they were fully booked. Nonetheless, we were able to sit at a table inside rather than in their garden, and asked for a menu twice before we were even brought tap water. Finally, our waitress came and read us the ‘menu’ – a crumpled-up, handwritten piece of paper. After asking her to repeat nearly everything, and trying to clarify prices (we were only given a range), we finally decided to share a burrata starter, plus two different kinds of pasta.
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