The Verdict
PALATINO is the Clerkenwell Central Street Roman Italian restaurant whose tonnarelli cacio e pepe, the specific egg pasta whose black pepper and Pecorino Romano composition communicates genuine knowledge of what the Roman pasta tradition's most technically demanding available preparation requires, and carbonara communicate what Roman cooking looks like when its most Clerkenwell-contextualised available practitioners apply the Roman pasta traditions with complete culinary conviction. The cacio e pepe programme whose specific tonnarelli and emulsification technique communicates genuine mastery of the Roman tradition; the carbonara programme whose guanciale and egg yolk balance communicates genuine knowledge of what the Roman tradition specifies; and the Clerkenwell setting creates the most appropriately creative available London context.
Why It Works for a First Date
Palatino's Clerkenwell cacio e pepe and the Roman pasta conviction, the tonnarelli, the Pecorino Romano emulsification, the neighbourhood warmth, creates the first date that communicates genuine knowledge of where London's most seriously Roman-pasta-devoted available Clerkenwell cooking is practised.
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