THERE are 199 kilometres between Milan and Turin and, once a year, the cities’ greatest bicycle racers clamber on their machines and set out at full pelt for the famous Milano-Torino race.

It started in 1876 – making it the oldest bicycle race in the world – and continues today.

This background explains why a restaurant in Coal Drops Yard has some striking references to riding a bike extremely fast.

Owner Michael Sodeau is a designer, artist and mad keen cyclist. Here he references all these elements of his life and they become a backdrop for Epicurean delights.

Vermuteria begins by focussing on the food culture of northern Italy but the vibe is essentially one of a swish cafe bar where you dream of grazing your way through the menu with a dog-eared moleskin notebook to one side and a glass of the coldest, crispest wine-based aperitif in front of you. When the Americans invaded Paris’s Left bank in the 1920s, they spun out their hours in a marble-topped cafe culture. Vermuteria draws on these places and slims it down to remove any fuss.

We start with a plate with the chicory-streaked radicchio providing a cup for a collapsing Burrata to settle into. This burrata was wobbling about and finding it hard to hold it together. As the first fork prong tugged at its skin, it collapsed in a heap and its creamy insides escaped the tension. On top were wafer-thin strips of glazed pear, and putting the combination together the bitterness of the leaf, the creamy Buratta, and the sweetness of the pear shut our chatty table up.

Next came a plate of rigatoni, whose ridged, conical shape makes it perfect as a sauce collector.

Herefordshire farms are well known for two main products: their apples and their beef.

But the border county has a long tradition in game, and the shire’s venison, sauted in tomatoes and poured over the pasta was light without losing that unique taste.

We watched a neighbouring table take charge of a shoulder of Welsh lamb. Our neighbours, who struck up an appraisal of the décor (comfy and interesting), the service (super friendly and efficient) and the menu (which was like playing Happy Families, matching a starter with a main and a dessert), pleaded we order it and we would be doing ourselves a great injustice by not doing so. Watching them pick each mouthful with gazes reaching into the far distance suggests this is one for next time.

And then came a finale so unexpectedly good it roared through the crowded field and won the day.

Bread and butter pudding with custard does not suggest sophistication, but it is a natural fit. The great French chefs created new ideas by eking out ingredients, and the bread and butter pudding has a long history of being just that.

Caramelised chunks of bread, sweetly spiced, were saturated in a custard so good the recipe was demanded from the kitchen. Unsurprisingly it involved a lot of cream.

Vermuteria is tucked away among the Coal Drops’ mix of high-end shops and Victorian utilitarianism given a dash of New English design. It offers intimacy, a place to share intrigues, while enjoying simple, superb fare.

https://vermuteria.cc/