Piccolino Heddon Street is a Mayfair Italian restaurant a short walk from Oxford Street, with an open kitchen, a lower ground cicchetti bar and a front terrace. Part of the Piccolino group of Italian restaurants across the UK, this branch sits on the pedestrianised Heddon Street, where on a sunny day, the extensive terrace makes a lovely space to spend some time. Inside, meanwhile, chefs work in full view of the dining room, with the downstairs cicchetti bar offering a spot for drinks and small plates.
The Piccolino menu opens with plates for the table, such as focaccia, Gordal olives and hand-stretched garlic bread, alongside a raw bar of yellowfin tuna tartare, yellowtail crudo and Colchester oysters. For sharing, the antipasto misto brings Parma ham, bresaola, salame Calabrese and salame Napoli with buffalo mozzarella, Pecorino Romano and ricotta, served with freshly baked bread, balsamic onions, pickled hot peppers and caper berries. Other starters include truffle and mushroom arancini, beef carpaccio with Venetian dressing, and a fritto misto of king prawns, red mullet, baby squid and whitebait with confit garlic mayonnaise.
Pasta lovers can choose from linguine with clams or king prawns, a 24-hour beef shin pappardelle and Devonshire crab ravioli with lobster sauce. A traditional spaghetti carbonara with guanciale and free-range eggs is on the menu, and there’s also a Carbonara Grande, finished at the table in a wheel of Pecorino. Those after something more substantial can try the Venetian classic of pan-fried calf's liver with pancetta, onions and creamy mash, monkfish wrapped in Parma ham, or a whole roasted sea bass. Steaks range from dry-aged ribeye to a Chateaubriand or T-bone Fiorentina to share, while Neapolitan-style pizzas include a Diavola with ‘nduja and stracciatella.
For a quicker working lunch in Mayfair, Piccolino Heddon Street also runs an express lunch menu, and there’s a children’s menu for younger diners, with vegetarian and vegan dishes marked throughout.