The iconic family-run Italian restaurant group San Carlo celebrates a fresh chapter for its much-loved Cicchetti concept with the opening of the new Cicchetti Piccadilly, now located at 172–173 St James’s!
With 94 dining covers, 20 in a private dining room, and 10 at the bar, the new Piccadilly site allows the restaurant to host more guests than previously. The 7520 sq ft restaurant is set across two floors; the basement includes the kitchen, toilets and private dining area, whilst the ground floor houses the bar and restaurant. In addition to a private dining room, the new restaurant boasts features such as a dedicated wine cellar, yellow panelled walls, and a tree to the rear of the space, curated by the interior design team at award-winning design practice Fettle Design.
Cicchetti Piccadilly offers a traditional Italian food and drinks menu, in keeping with San Carlo’s well-loved style. Food highlights include Tagliolini all’Aragosta, Vitello Milanese, Coda di Rospo al Pistacchio and the Gnocchi Gorgonzola, as well as an impressive fine wine selection, curated cocktails are also on offer.
West London Living enjoyed a magnificent feast of antipasto, with such highlights as beef carpaccio with rocket, burrata and heirloom tomatoes, mozzerella and avocado, polpo and edamame salad, beef ragu pasta, a divine lemon sole, a veal tagliata, and impossibly tender braised beef cheeks, all followed up with various cakes, pastries, and the creamiest pistachio ice cream we’d ever tasted.
The sommelier, and wines (special mention to the remarkably Provençal yet Italian rosé – 2024 Calafuria), were on point. Staff were exemplary, and gluten-free penne is available to sub in for any of the pasta dishes, if, sadly, you can’t have the real thing.
The interiors are well-considered; a calming influence of Venetian heritage blended with more contemporary playful pattern and texture. The ideal spot for a date, dinner with family, or birthday with friends. Booths and tables are spaced out enough to allow privacy when talking, but still perfect for people watching across the dining room.
To mark the London relocation, San Carlo has partnered with English-Italian illustrator and designer Chiara Perano to produce a limited-edition keepsake for guests: an illustrated recipe card celebrating the signature cocktail, Rapsodia di Lamponi. Known for her minimal, playful style and refined use of nostalgic Italian references, Perano brings a distinctive artistic voice to the collaboration.
The “Rapsodia di Lamponi” is a vibrant martini blending Bombay Sapphire Gin, Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth, fresh lemon, raspberry syrup, and a caramelised sugar disc with grapefruit flakes—capturing the essence of Italian sophistication with a contemporary twist. A limited run of printed cards will be gifted to guests throughout the opening period, offering a beautifully crafted reminder of Cicchetti Piccadilly’s new London home.
Since opening its first restaurant in 1992 on Temple Street, Birmingham, the family-run San Carlo Group has seen significant growth, with 25 authentic Italian restaurants across the UK, and locations in Kuwait, Dubai, Bangkok and Qatar. Through its growth, San Carlo has remained rooted in its heritage. First launched by Sicilian-born Carlo Distefano, it is still joined by two generations of the family and is popular for its traditional style among families and celebrities alike.
Marcello Distefano, CEO San Carlo Group commented: “Cicchetti Piccadilly has always celebrated the excitement of one of London’s most traversed areas, the perfect spot for pre and post-theatre dining. Our new Piccadilly site will allow us to continue to grow our customer base in the capital and provide an authentic Italian dining experience. Following the success of our existing Cicchetti Piccadilly site, our new restaurant will offer a unique dining experience whilst staying true to our renowned and well loved San Carlo brand.”
About San Carlo Group
The San Carlo story begins in Sicily, the birthplace of chairman Carlo Distefano. A tale of entrepreneurial success, Carlo arrived in Britain in 1962 aged 17, with £12 in his pocket, a work permit and the promise of a job at a barbershop.
A self-confessed workaholic, by the age of 20, Carlo opened his first joint business venture, a hairdressing salon in Leeds; he also had interests in a coffee bar and disco. But food was always to be Carlo’s primary passion, working six or seven days a week, any free time would be spent in London where he’d dine at the most lauded restaurants in the city – including the Savoy, the Dorchester and Simpsons. It was here that Carlo’s passion for great food, style and service became his driving force.
In 1992 Carlo opened his first eponymously named restaurant in Temple Street, Birmingham, then a humble 20 table restaurant. Celebrities, sporting stars and loyal diners made San Carlo their restaurant of choice and soon Carlo had a success on his hands, Bristol opened in 1996, Leicester in the late 90’s and then Manchester, which has gone on to become possibly the highest profile, busiest restaurant outside of London.
In a world of chain operators and centralised kitchens, the San Carlo restaurant group remains defiantly independent. Each award winning Italian restaurant headed up by its own team of skilled chefs and management and working with only the best Italian seasonal produce – all underpinned by one thing – a passion for great food, service and style.
Now, after thirty years and still working seven days a week, Carlo has overseen the dramatic expansion of the business which has flourished to employ more than 1,000 people across the globe and won more than thirty industry and consumer awards.
