Jamie Oliver has opened a new Italian restaurant up near us, and it’s very popular. We had lunch there on Saturday, after waiting a few minutes in a short queue. I don’t usually queue for restaurants, but it was moving quickly and we didn’t have long to wait.
The restaurant is in a lovely old building in Nottingham – I’m always happy to see buildings like this being looked after, restored and enjoyed. Next door is the Paul Smith shop, which has also been very well preserved.*
We had a three course lunch (which made me VERY sleepy for the rest of the afternoon), and our table was up on the top floor, with excellent views of the city’s skyline.
There were quite a few vegetarian options, and the pumpkin and amaretti pasta I had was delicious. If there’s tiramisu on a menu, I will order it – Jamie’s version came with orange zest, and was more like a gateau than the tiramisus I’ve had elsewhere.
Something that amused us was the choice of music: the restaurants have clearly been planned to the Nth degree, with a particular target audience in mind. The music we heard while we ate our lunch made me feel that I *am* that target audience. It was an unsettling feeling – but at the same time, nice to be in a restaurant that plays ‘proper’ music (ie music from the 90s).
*Incidentally, I’m told by a reliable source that Paul Smith has a Paul Smith-striped Jaguar. So if you’re in Nottingham and you see someone driving a Paul Smith-esque car, it’s probably him.
Busywork 
We have a Jamie’s Italian near us and it’s pretty good as Italians go. I like the way the food seems fresh and the variety of choice.
It looks like a really lovely building. Was the interior nicely done? x
Wish we had a decent Italian restaurant in this town. We’re also not good at preserving old buildings here and go for the knock it down approach. Such a shame.