What makes a true neighbourhood restaurant? For Adam Byatt, it’s about creating a beautiful space with a delicious, accessible menu that eventually turns locals into regulars. It’s an ethos he’s channelled into Rosina, the Italian restaurant he’s just opened on Wandsworth Common.
As the chef-patron of one Michelin-starred Trinity in Clapham – as well as its more casual spinoff Trinity Upstairs and Bistro Union on nearby Abbeville Road – Adam Byatt is no stranger to operating a special occasion restaurant. But that’s not what he had in mind when building Rosina. “I want you to be able to use this restaurant once a week,” Byatt tells Broadsheet. “I want it to be a place where I might come on a Wednesday for a plate of pasta and a glass of wine or a little Negroni, and go home. Or I might come on a Friday and splurge on date night. Or maybe I come with my family on a Sunday and book a table for 10.”
Named after his daughter Rosie, who works at Rosina as a chef, Byatt’s newest venture is the culmination of a lifelong love affair with Italian cuisine coupled with a desire to create what he felt was missing from his neighbourhood.
Bellevue Road has been a community hub since the late Victorian period, but with current dining options limited to Michelin-starred institution Chez Bruce, a string of independent cafes that close in the evening, and a few chain restaurants and pubs, Rosina fills a clear gap in the otherwise vibrant high street. Located directly across from the common, the restaurant features a large dining room, a private dining space (with its own terrace and bar), the wood-panelled Thorn Bar, and a gorgeous wraparound terrace. Walk-ins are welcome, and smaller tables by the bar are available for those looking to pop in for snacks and a drink or two – there’s an extensive cocktail list, including multiple takes on the Negroni, and a wine selection favouring organic and biodynamic Italian drops. Byatt took the lead on designing the space, which feels elegant yet welcoming, with florist wife Vicky Byatt overseeing the flower arrangements and an artwork commissioned from neurodivergent artist Autistic Ian that’s inspired by Rosie.
Byatt says choosing to serve Italian food in a neighbourhood restaurant “felt like the right thing to do”. In video series Road to Rosina, he documents his north-to-south journey through Italy to “get under the skin of what makes Italian food as convivial and hospitality-driven as it is”. Pebbles found during morning runs in Italy have been engraved and are tokens for the restaurant’s coat room.
To keep costs down, Byatt decided to go back to the basics of what he considers good food. “There’s going to be offal on the menu here. There’s going to be real food with guts and grittiness. I think it’s important to make [diners] realise that you’re in a proper restaurant where we cook proper food, and that’s how you make a restaurant in this new world work,” he says.
Former Lita and Paul Ainsworth at No 6 alum Will Bee has been appointed head chef, and while dishes like tuna crudo, cavatelli cacio e pepe (which is a steal at £8), and the house special tiramisu are obvious crowd-pleasers, other items on the menu show Byatt’s bullishness in highlighting less-familiar Italian specialties: rabbit livers are braised in chianti and served with crunchy bruschetta as a snack; a herb-seasoned veal tongue topped with a tangy and spicy mostarda di frutta makes its way onto the primi section; and for heartier plates, a traditional Milanese favourite uses breaded rabbit instead of veal and arrives with a sweet-and-sour Sicilian caponata.
“I want guests to walk out feeling better than when they walked in. I want them to feel like they walked in with minimal expectations, but the hospitality over-delivered, the food was delicious but not challenging, the wine list was completely approachable. And the most important thing I want them to say when they walk out is, ‘I want to come back.’”
Rosina
35 Bellevue Road SW17 7EF
02086725888
Hours:
Mon to Sun midday–2:30pm, 5.30pm–10pm
