Calici is a sophisticated Italian bar restaurant near Belsize Park in the heart of Belsize Village. The heart of Calici is true, authentic Italian cuisine - the team are passionate about using fresh, seasonal produce, and everything at the restaurant is made in-house, with ingredients sourced from nearby New Covent Garden Market.
The interior is warm and inviting, made up of a spectrum of wood shades, with pendant lights hanging from the ceiling. An exposed stone wall gives the restaurant rustic character, whilst the opposite wall is a glass case, showing off some of the restaurant's wine offering.
Calico doesn't show any regional speciality, choosing instead to champion the diversity of Italian regions. The menu features classics from Italy's north and south - dishes like vitello tonnato (poached veal with tuna and anchovy mayonnaise), Milanese risotto with ossobuco, and calves liver with mashed potato and caramelised onion are classic northern Italian dishes, but the menu also features some Sicilian favourites too, like branzino alla vacanza (pan-fried sea bass with a Sicilian dressing), and rigatoni alla Norma (pasta with aubergine, tomato and salted ricotta).
Calico is just as passionate about its wine offering as it is about food, particularly when it comes to sourcing sustainable wines. The restaurant only imports from producers that demonstrate a responsible approach to winemaking, not just in Italy but all over the world. Most of the wines on offer are imported by Calico's sister company, so wines are available at very good prices, with around 75 wines available by the glass.