The Times
Camilla Long headed for dinner at a new Italian restaurant in a leafy street near Holland Park, the latest opening from the team behind the Fat Badger and the Hart, whose food she loved.
The cooking was fine, especially some excellent pasta: “It’s what I’d call London Italian… nursery food disguised as Elizabeth David”, she said, although the ubiquitous bottarga was further evidence that “compacted fish fanny is having a moment”. And why did they need to cut scarlet prawns – already “rich and luscious” – with lobster?
However, the place did not work for Camilla. The cocktails were “basically nightclub hits”, not Italian at all; nor was the wine menu, that was “stuffed with Puligny-Montrachets and Cote de Beaunes and Pauillacs, very few of them under £100”. The “sleazy” décor (including mirrored lavatories: “who wants infinity sees?”) had barely changed since the venue’s incarnation as Casa Cruz, a “lizardy oligarchs’ lounge”, and “none of the staff look as though they’ve ever been inside an Italian restaurant, let alone worked in one”.
Camilla Long - 2026-06-07The Observer
Rebecca Nicholson took a more indulgent view of CeCe’s, saying the leftover Casa Cruz décor perfectly suits the shift to a “big, shiny Italian” in the Mad Men mould – “I loved every ridiculous, over-the-top moment of it”.
The service “made us feel special and taken care of, without excessive fuss but with sexy competence”, while “everyone around us seemed lively and content, which is, I suppose, what being rich can bring to your life.”
If the food was “light on the portion sizes, already semaglutide-friendly, for its high-end clientele”, it was generally delicious, including white asparagus in a creamy sauce topped with shaved bottarga, “immaculate” fritto misto and “silky” rabbit ragu with pappardelle. The only duff dish was a bland potato ravioli, “the filling lacking texture and the walnut sauce almost instantly congealing on the plate”.
Rebecca Nicholson - 2026-06-07
