Tiramisu on wheels, cocktails in mini Fiats, and Harrods next door – welcome to Alba.
The lights of Harrods, just across the road, flicker to life as we sit down to dinner. In fact, everything around us is gleaming, from the handmade Venetian floor to the immaculately coiffed clientele. While it aims to capture the relaxed essence of the Amalfi Coast, the setting feels far more sanitised. We are at the newly opened Italian restaurant, Alba in Knightsbridge.
Alba – meaning sunrise in Italian – is an attempt to inject some southern Italian warmth into the pristine epicentre of Knightsbridge. Designed by architecture studio, YODEZEEN, it captures la dolce vita through a palette of olive greens, browns, yellows and terracottas, complemented by real lemon trees. A sleek, open-plan kitchen suggests a sense of conviviality, deck chairs create a maritime feel, while high ceilings and large windows generate the illusion of being outside. The result feels more like the well-scrubbed deck of a luxury yacht than an authentic vision of southern Italian culture – but it’s no less spectacular for that.
The menu cuts a cross-section of Italian cuisine, from Campanian Buffalo Milk Mozzarella to Piedmontese Truffle Tagliatelle, with an emphasis on sharing platters. There are dishes from Florence, Milan and Sicily. Alba prides itself on Amalfi staples, and to reflect the region’s coastal identity, it leans heavily into seafood.
What Alba doesn’t do is overstatement. Our meal begins with a sharing Pizza Buratta, an elegant combination of burrata and baby courgettes, livened up by anchovies, presented on a brightly painted rustic plate. The rest of the starters, ranging from Caciucco Soup to Catalana with Marinated Tomatoes, are similarly restrained. This is a restaurant that trusts ingredients to speak for themselves – an effective strategy when those ingredients have something to say.
Our Seafood Salad relies too heavily on squid, and misses a sauce, marinade or dash of vinegar to lend it a helping hand. Our second starter, Catalana with Marinated Tomatoes with heritage tomatoes and prawns is made tangy by a secret sauce. It does a far better job of letting quality ingredients take centre stage.
Main courses elevate traditional pasta, fish and meat dishes with luxurious touches like caviar, truffle and wagyu. Our Alba Tagliatelle is indulgence for indulgence’s sake, blanketed in black truffle and butter. I prefer the subtlety of the Sea Bass with red potatoes and chilli, cooked to silky perfection, and filleted at the table with a pleasing sense of theatricality.
With a limited offering of gelati, sorbets, and classic Italian treats, dessert threatens to be an anti-climax. Instead, we’re treated to a spectacle as the waiter wheels up a trolley, carrying the constituent parts of our Tiramisu. Explaining that customers like to film him doing this, he suffuses panettone with freshly made espresso coffee before ladling on mountains of whipped cream. It looks great and, once fully assembled, it tastes better: a reminder that the best puddings are often simple.
Alba’s extensive cocktail menu steals the show. Part of that is down to presentation: one cocktail arrives in a glass conch shell containing a fist-sized, crystal-clear ice cube; another in a colourful ceramic fiat-like car that you might see buzzing around the Italian coast. But it’s also about the vibrancy of flavour.
The Italian Riviera is a zingy confection of Gin, Maraschino Liquor, Lime Juice, Basil and Lavender Syrup, so fresh and medicinal I can almost convince myself it’s good for me. The Salento Negroni has been given an olive oil wash, lending it a velvety depth that takes a classic cocktail to the next level.
Does Alba deliver the true taste of the Amalfi Coast? Not quite. Like a luxury cruise liner, it can only get us so close before having to drop anchor. It is frustrating on some level, but when the voyage is as decadent and enjoyable as this one, I’m more than happy to climb aboard.
GO: Visit https://www.alba-ldn.uk for more information.