Enjoy The Flavours of the World In London.

When the sun shines in London, it doesn’t matter how hot or cold it is; the city looks beautiful. Although it is a valley, it is a multifaceted city with ebbs and peeks, it views its architecture, its sounds and of course, its food. Want Ethiopian food; easy, want Szechuan cuisine; not a problem, or what about Columbian? as easy as pie. But even though many of the eateries started out being run by new arrivals from other lands, authenticity is potentially the most important part of a meal from a new or favourite cuisine. Bottega 35, Kensington High Street in an Italian restaurant that ‘tastes’ authentically Italian. In fact, if you don’t look at the window, you could be fooled into thinking you are in Italy, the food is so good. But here’s a funny thing, this is an Italian eatery run by two Spanish brothers. Find out more about this and other ventures from their Emerald Hospitality Group.

Authentic Italian Food in London

Bottega 35 in Kensington is an authentic Tuscan restaurant with a simple yet stylish atmosphere. Set on the corner of a high street, it feels intimate yet central. There are some standout dishes, like the Mafaldine in a Pecorino wheel with Truffle, which, as well as the Tiramisu, are both finished at the table, creating a little drama and magic.

Bottega 35

Alongside those, other highly noted dishes include the Taleggio Arancini, delicious crispy mushroom rice balls of delight, the Seabass Bottega, beautifully fresh, served with tomatoes, and capers that bring the Tuscan sea to your fork. And don’t forget the pistachio cheesecake that’s beyond luxurious.

Emerald Hospitality Group

EHG currently has the 3 sites (Riviera, Bottega 35 and Como Garden), but 3 more are opening on Fleet Street later this year. They are gearing up to open three new restaurants on Fleet Street (in the former Telegraph offices), in partnership with The Regis Group, later this year. Casa Como will be a larger format sister restaurant to its Italian concept Como Garden; Wildfire is a steakhouse concept with open-fire cooking; and Kumo is a two-story Japanese rooftop Restaurant.’

Arian and Alberto Zandi

Spanish twin entrepreneurs Arian and Alberto Zandi, when only 22 years old, founded the company and are now overseeing a thriving enterprise with over 200 employees.  The brothers moved to London during their teenage years with strong ambitions. Initially venturing into strategy consulting, gaining invaluable knowledge which became the foundation of their business approach. Recognising a gap in the market for high-end hospitality experiences, they saw potential for scalability. In essence, the more luxurious a hospitality brand is, the more complex its operations, making it harder to replicate and standardise globally while maintaining quality. 

Creative Thinking

Their creative thinking lay in introducing corporate standards to an industry often perceived as unstructured. Thus, streamlining business processes, delivering outstanding experiences, and scaling their operations effectively.  So what was their food journey? And what really matters when they start a new project? Here they tell all.

Which people have affected your creative journey in food, and why?  

I would say that more than people, travel has had a huge impact. It taught us that food is never just food. It is memory, culture, rhythm, pride, family, and identity, and that in every country embodies these in a different way.

Do you have a first food memory? If so, which food, and where and when? What specifically do you remember?  

More than one specific food, our first real memory is of what food meant. Some of our best memories in life have always been around a dining table. We remember food being tied to family, friends, conversation, warmth, and that feeling of time slowing down and being present. That is probably one of the reasons we wanted to embark on our journey in hospitality in the first place. We have always believed that, once our time on this earth is done, we do not take anything material with us, only our memories. And for us, restaurants at their best have the power to create exactly that: beautiful, lasting memories that stay with people for life.

As you are Spanish, why have you concentrated on French, Italian and South American cuisines?  

We have never thought about hospitality only through nationality. Being Spanish shapes how we think about warmth, generosity, and the importance of the table, but we have always been drawn to cuisines with strong identity and emotional depth. Italian food has warmth, French cuisine has structure and elegance, and South American food often brings colour and energy. At the same time, we are also evolving. One of our opening concepts this year, for example, is a beautiful two-storey rooftop Japanese restaurant. So the common thread is not geography; it is building concepts that feel emotionally alive and commercially right for the market.

When you have decided on a new site, how do you go about decorating it? How do you use a space to express the sentiment behind the philosophy of the food?  

For us, design always starts with emotion before aesthetics. We first ask how we want people to feel in the space, and then we use lighting, materials, texture, layout, and rhythm to support that feeling. The food gives the room its language. If the menu is warm, generous, and made for sharing, the space cannot feel cold or rigid. We always try to make sure that the food and the design feel like they come from the same thought.

For you, what is the most important element in any restaurant you start, and why?  

Clarity. A restaurant needs to know exactly what it is, who it is for, and why it exists. If that is not clear, everything else becomes weaker: the food, the design, the service, and the marketing. The strongest restaurants always have a very clear soul.

What is your best-ever food moment? When, where and what happened?  

My best ever food moment was in Tuscany, in a completely random bar on the highway from one town to another. We were driving through the region with my fiancée and stopped for what we thought would be a very quick bite. We were slightly rushed, so we asked for a couple of pastas to take away. What first struck us, in a very memorable way, was that the waitress, who was really the bar owner, looked genuinely surprised and said in the simplest and most human way, “Why are you not eating it here?” We live in London, and in cities like London, people are so used to rushing that we often forget to make time for simple things that would not take as long as we imagine, and that would give us much more back in happiness than they cost us in time. The second thing that stayed with us was the food itself. The two pastas we had, in this very ordinary bar, were some of the best we have ever eaten. Every part of the dishes was perfect. It was a very simple experience, but one with a huge amount of depth.

If you could only choose one food item, what would it be and why?  

It would be pasta. Some of our most memorable food moments have happened around very simple pasta dishes, especially in Italy, and we love what that says about food. At its best, pasta can be incredibly simple, but also incredibly moving. It does not need to hide behind complexity. If the ingredients are right and the cooking is right, it can feel perfect in a very honest way. We are very drawn to food like that, food that looks simple on the surface, but carries a huge amount of craft, culture, and emotion underneath.

Whether it be Tuscan, Japanese, French or Spanish, as long as it tastes amazing and it’s authentic, that’s what matters the most.

Explore the Menu and book a table. Please visit Bottega 35.com

If you enjoyed reading, Enjoy The Flavours of the World In London, why not read, The Most Amazing Story of Goya here

.Cent Magazine, London. Luxury Mindset