Mario & Franco’s La Trattoria Terrazza on Romilly St, in Soho was responsible for introducing Italian food and making it trendy in London in 1959. Mario Cassandro, a co-founder who just passed away this year at the age of 91, along with partner Franco Lagattolla, were both former waiters at the Curzon Street restaurant, Mirabelle in Mayfair. Many other places were spawned by former employees who borrowed (to put it nicely) the same menu and the minimalist style of decor. When Princess Margaret started to frequent Terrazza, it firmly placed it on the culinary map.
Italian cooking is extremely simple, most often the creation of “mama” rather than a famous chef, and depends wholly on good ingredients rather than complicated preparations, and is the reason most dishes are easily adapted for home cooking.
