Italian food in London is really not what it used to be. I remember going out for dinner ten or so years ago with my family and back then, Italian restaurants were simple. Carbonara, lasagne, ravioli, steak and simple fish. Now however it’s all slightly more eclectic. Nduja makes its way into everything, Prosecco now comes on tap with barely any fizz and melon topped with Parma ham seems to have been eradicated. Personally I’m a bit sad about it all. Visit Bologna in Italy and those Italian classic are still alive, but why? Because that’s real Italian food and that’s why I’m so happy Mr Randall has opened up Theo’s Simple Italian in Earl’s Court. As its name suggests, this is Simple Italian food – but done well.

I love it when a good new restaurant opens in West London. Although there are some great places already, we're not as saturated with good eateries as Soho, or further East. And when that new restaurant (though it's not that new anymore as I'm a bit slow with my write up) is from one of my favourite chefs, then it's even better. Theo Randall's newest venture is Theo's Simple Italian, a casual dining restaurant at boutique hotel, Hotel Indigo, which is a couple of minutes walk from Earl's Court tube station. The restaurant is relaxed, yet chic, and has a deli that sells all of the produce used in their kitchens, plus homemade pastries in the morning and cakes, charcuterie and cheeses in the afternoon, so you can go home and (try to) recreate the delicious dinner you've had there. Theo's new book 'My Simple Italian' might help too!  The food at Theo's Simple Italian focuses on using seasonal ingredients to create dishes that are vibrant and full of flavour. Everything is cooked "simply" - there are no twiddly bits or buffons of foam - just good, tasty plates of food that you'll want to go back for time and again. There's a lovely choice of Italian wines and lots of different craft beers to enjoy with as much or as little food as you fancy. The menu is divided up in to sections of plate size so you can pop in for a quick snack, or go all out and try a bit of everything, like we did! We started small (cicchetti) then worked our way through most of the rest of the menu. Cicchetti plates we tried included the totally addictive polenta chips with anchovy dressing; veal, beef and pork meatballs; calamari fritti; and the olive oil focaccia that's ridiculously good, and of course made on site.