FFG Eats: Cecconi’s Shoreditch

FFG was a guest of Cecconi’s Shoreditch for this meal. 

I’ve often found myself watching Sex & The City with envious eyes. Every time “the girls” sat down for a meal, whether it be breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, I was jealous of the familiarity they had with one another. They could sit down for a bite to eat and just chat, about anything, about any topic. Whether talking up new sexual positions or talking down the latest runway styles, these ladies seemingly had it all and could make anything right with a plate of french fries and a large cosmopolitan. Granted, this was years ago, before Instagram, before the Apple iPhone, hell, it was before Facebook. The girls could sit around any table and there wasn’t a chance they would be distracted by a message coming in on Twitter, a comment being left on the Gram, or a news alert coming in from the NYT. Aw, those were the days. And yes, they are hard to replicate in 2019, unless you make a deal to leave your mobile phones in the handbags. So what does all of this have to do with Cecconi’s Shoreditch? Well, I do believe there are certain places that have the power to make you want to leave your phone alone. These are the places that have an atmosphere so powerful, so infectious, that you don’t want to lose even a moment of missing out. You want to be in the moment, in the setting, fully. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this in a London restaurant. It’s a rarity indeed, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it in, what is effectively, a chain restaurant. 

There are, in fact, three Cecconi’s in London today. You have the original, in Mayfair, the newer version in The Ned and the newest to the collection in Shoreditch. Each one has its own plus points and they are very different. So, while they share the same name, you couldn’t ask for three more unique spaces. Shoreditch feels like the most casual of the lot, which is appropriate considering its location. This is definitely a jean crowd wandering in and out and it makes for the most delightfully relaxed place for a rather sophisticated, top notch pasta and pizza offering. In fact, saying “top notch” doesn’t even truly do this new restaurant justice. The lobster spaghetti is on par with discovering heaven. The truffle pizza might as well be an orgasm on a plate. Trust me when I say that the sounds we were making while eating it were definitely giving Meg Ryan a run for her money in When Harry Met Sally. Then there was the spaghetti carbonara. I’m not even sure I can find an appropriate description for what my tastebuds were doing as I placed the fork full of twirled paste upon my tongue. Must be tried.

While the food was amazing and the atmosphere warm and welcoming, it was the women around the table that had me drawing the comparison with Sex & The City. These are my ladies. These are the ladies that I can say absolutely anything to around a table. I can talk about relationships, bitch and moan about London life or speak about the downward spiral of likes on Instagram. Yup, never something you’d hear on Sex & The City. Although, if it were 2019, would the girls be talking about such things at brunch? We’ll never know. But, I do have a feeling, if they existed in London, they’d be sitting here next to us commenting on the diverse style choices being represented around our table on that day.

More Info: Cecconi’s Shoreditch

Share:

Looking for Something?

×

Never miss a post! Sign up to my newsletter for exclusive first looks, blog updates and personal general musings, delivered every Monday, straight to your inbox: