Casa Batavia - Kensington

Casa Batavia is a new modern Italian restaurant on Kensington Church Street not far from Notting Hill Gate tube. The restaurant is a joint venture between Italian celebrity chef Nicola Batavia, proprietor of Michelin starred Ristorante Birichin in Turin and restaurateur Paolo Boschi who owned and operated da Paolo for 20 years.

The two-storey building has a ground floor dining room and bar with a second floor private function room, decorated with books and photos of Turin. The chic dining room is minimalist in style, with walls displaying the black and white artwork of the Italian cartoonist Osvaldo Cavandoli, famous for his short cartoons called 'The Line'.

Batavia's menu features well constructed authentic Italian fare with many of the ingredients imported from Italy including herbs and Castelmagno cheese from Piedmont. Among the antipasti you could choose salted dry cod on a bed of mozzarella, chopped cherries tomatoes, crispy bacon and Batavia olive oil or octopus roasted with marinated celery and tapenade of cherries tomatoes and Liguria olives. From the main course there's skewer of monkfish and squid with candy shallot, rosemary and extra virgin olive oil or roasted fillet of pork, tuna sauce and marinated vegetable and courgette, as well as tempting pasta and risotto dishes. There is a carefully constructed wine list imported from small producers in Turin to complement the dishes.