Dalla, London: ‘If you know, you know’

Since Dalla opened on Hackney’s Morning Lane a little over two years ago, this neighbourhood Italian has been the acme of “iykyk” on London’s restaurant scene. That’s “if you know, you know”, an acronym which casually denotes something that will make sense to a niche, inside crowd – in this case, foodish east-Londoners who only drink prosecco if it’s listed as “col fondo”. To this uninitiated outsider from Streatham, south London, Dalla seemed to have an intimidating cachet. I now know this isn’t wholly intentional – they’re just doing what they do – but news that Charli xcx had enlisted the restaurant to make her wedding food last summer only added to this sense for me. (Not least because Dalla has something in common with “brat”, the title of the album she released in 2024. It knows what it is, even if you don’t.)

Anyway, I knew about Dalla – I’d heard people speak reverentially about its ultra-seasonal changing menu and minimal dining room, peppered with lesser known design classics – but I didn’t know. So, on a cold Friday evening, I find myself opposite my husband at one of its window tables, decompressing over a bottle of golden pico wine from Veneto as No 30 buses rattle past in the direction of the neighbourhood’s luxury fashion hub. Servers fluent in bitter leaves and macerated wines warm the room, and I note that, unlike lots of places that capture the imaginations of tastemakers, at Dalla, chic doesn’t come at the expense of charm.

And charming it is. I’m dazzled by the whole effect of the place: the Borrowers-sized kitchen in which burly chefs work nimbly to produce a steady stream of robust little platefuls; the white midcentury stacking chairs tucked under double-tableclothed tables; the shelves sparsely curated with a handful of battered cookbooks; a chalice bowl of leafy lemons; playful antiques… I somehow neglect to order an aperitivo, specifically the Cynar & Wine, which was flirting with me from the menu. Instead, I ruminate over the restaurant’s Call Me By Your Name vibes and nibble semolina bread from nearby pastificio Forno.

Dalla is the lovechild of Neapolitan design curator Gennaro Leone, his chef brother Gianmarco and the Canadian born Mitchell Damota, formerly the head chef of the venerated and now-closed Clapton wine bar P Franco. The trio has created a small, perfectly formed dining room of around 22 covers to contain a tight edit of their respective interests – dishes that sing not just of the season but of that very week, supplemented by a neat list of wines made in small quantities and a cherry-picked selection of singular furniture and objets d’art from Spazio Leone, Gennaro’s dealership, bringing the kind of high-low edge that makes Dalla’s regulars see stars. You start to notice these juxtapositions everywhere: café curtains only half obscuring the graffiti over the road; ordinary bistro glasses holding extraordinary wines; a probably priceless copper coal scuttle repurposed into a toilet bin.

In theory, Leone and Damota’s menu has a strong southern spine, with bones from every corner of Italy, decadent fare inspired by the affluent north (think raw beef with black pig lardo and winter truffle) rubbing shoulders with vegetable-forward cucina povera. But Dalla resists easy definition. It feels both absolutely of Hackney and only of itself. So, you could come and eat quintessential Italian comfort food – superlative ragù and tiramisu by candlelight, a single red carnation in a vase between you, no less – all of which apparently featured on Charli xcx’s wedding menu. You’ll also find dishes that belong nowhere but here – a soft egg frittata with borettane onions and traditional balsamic, say, which resembles ruffled bed linen still body-warm, or sweet and sour artichokes with vast golden sultanas and sheep ricotta.

The term “comfort food” usually implies familiar things, the meals we return to for solace, but at Dalla, dishes previously unknown felt familiar. When I met the plump, nutty Bitto cheese and buckwheat fritters, I felt we understood each other. I feel good here, I think. Lots of people feel good here – there are dates, birthdays and low-key family meals at which parents initiate their teenagers to the pleasures of bittersweet drinks and sharp garden pickles. Freddie, my sound designer husband, feels at home, too. He doesn’t complain about the music once. Sound is important at Dalla, not only because it is named for the late Neapolitan singer Lucio Dalla, but in the discreet presence of audiophilia. Ergo: we can hear each other! Joy! (Although if I can’t hear Freddie talking to me about poor soundproofing in restaurants, it’s arguably no bad thing.)

We talk about other stuff, like the pecorino-filled crêpes in chicken broth I’d persuaded him to order over the veal, and the puntarelle alla Romana. This Roman chicory salad is not Damota and Leone’s own creation, but their version is plainly perfect and evidence that great cooking is sometimes about not cooking at all. I have it alongside a hunky square of walnut and radicchio lasagne which tastes like coming home – albeit not the home I will shortly return to (poorly insulated, no milk).

Knowing our house was cold, and having foolishly missed out on those aperitivi, we are determined to make the back end of the meal last. If I have one criticism, it’s that Dalla’s kitchen is almost too efficient. Once our order is in, the meal gallops by. We string things out with a red kiwi sorbet, a wedge of apple cake dripping with sabayon, and the cheese, a blue from Aosta. It is a set list at once understated and epic and, I realise, reminiscent of seeing Spiritualized in concert (iykyk). I want a T-shirt.

There is an irony to writing about this place. There’s something ineffable about it: words have their limits when it comes to vibes. I’d come eager to know what it was all about, with the task of conveying to you if and why it was so deserving of so much hushed praise. Whether or not I’ve succeeded is your call. But if you know Dalla, you know.

Dalla, 120-122 Morning Lane, London E9 6LH (020 3016 4179, dallarestaurant.com). Snacks from £4, starters from £9, mains from £18, desserts from £8, wines and aperitivi from £8.50