Comforting carbs: Pastaio [Harriet Langford]

SAY what you like about social media but the video format is ideal for teaching us how to cook. Instagram and TikTok are stuffed with short instructional cooking clips to guide you through a recipe step by step.

In our house, it was the turn of chef Stevie Parle. Gathered around a mobile, we learned how to make an egg-based pasta from scratch. (Check out @pastaiolondon for the tips).

To be honest, we made a floury mess. But the experience inspired a quick meal at his restaurant Pastaio to try the real deal.

The location, tucked off Carnaby Street, is handy if you’re out and about in the West End. Pastaio is open all day and serves generous plates of pasta at a fair price.

The chefs make all the pasta from scratch. Flours include an organic Italian semolina and a British wheat flour milled from heritage grains. Eggs come from happy hens in Kent. For some dishes, they use a ricotta made fresh each morning in west London.

Pastaio has been open for years but still manages to feel fresh, stylish and cutting edge. The 70-seat space was designed by Tom Dixon’s studio, now based in Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross.

A brightly coloured mural stretches across one wall. It’s a paean to pasta: a riddle of geometric shapes inspired by the hundreds of different pasta shapes. The tables also pop with colour, made with terrazzo flecked with multi-coloured shards. The soundtrack is carefully curated – a mix of hip hop and soulful classics such as Hercules by Aaron Neville.

It was striking to see the wide spectrum of clientele. Pastaio is designed to be inclusive. Along with hip young professionals, there were families with children and an older couple sharing a bottle of wine, perhaps en route to the theatre.

Specials included an £8 plate of pasta served 12-5pm from Monday to Friday: roasted squash with chilli and rocket served on a stubby tubular pasta called mezze maniche.

We kicked off with excellent focaccia – springy and moist – and two antipasti. There was a glistening plate of sweet-and-sour caponata, made with aubergines, olives, pine nuts, raisins and mint.

A fennel salad offered the contrast of fresher flavours and crunch, combining ribbons of fennel, clementine, olives, parsley and lemon juice. We felt that the creamy dressing, however, did not add much to the dish.

As you would hope, the pasta is quality. The chefs boil a mix of black and white spaghetti to pair with Dorset crab flavoured with fennel seeds and chilli. This dish, priced £16.60, had a feisty hit of black pepper.

Their take on Bolognese, also £16.50, uses tagliatelle (the correct pasta shape), cooked al dente then smothered with a slow-cooked sauce that involves Ukrainian porcini to add an extra depth of flavour. We finished with a decent tiramisu.

Service is swift and friendly. Linger, if you wish, for a cosy evening. But by day Pastaio is designed as a place to refuel with comforting carbs.

Pastaio
19 Ganton St, W1F
020 3019 8680
@pastaiolondon
www.pastaio.co.uk