Massimo Embankment
10 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AE
(0) 207 321 3156/tables@massimo-restaurant.co.uk
www.massimo-restaurant.co.ukMassimo is an Italian restaurant in the Corinthia Hotel near the Embankment that has been around since the the hotel opened in 2011. It features one of the the most stylish interiors in London dating from its Victorian heritage as the impossibly glamorous Metropole Hotel, and its Corinthian design reinvention by the late great designer David Collins. The joint was named after its initial chef-patron, Massimo Riccioli-a big shot chef from Rome with the emphasis being firmly on seafood. However whilst the nosh was brilliant at times and reviews were good there were problems with service and somehow the place never quite caught alight in the way it should have. I’ll never forget the chef asking me about a dish of sole which had just arrived at the table-it was undercooked and as soon as he realised he picked it up and ran screaming to the kitchen… The hotel then brought in another chef called Massimo from Heinz Beck’s much missed Apsley’s restaurant in The Lanesborough…when the second Massimo didn’t work out and no other chefs called Massimo could be located in London, Giorgio Locatelli was brought in to steady the ship which he did effectively. For the last year one of Locatelli’s ex-lieutenants, Andrea Cirino, has taken over the helm under his own name as head chef and it is his cooking that Fiona and I have been invited to review.

‘methode champenoise’. Way more sophisticated than any prosecco it’s the perfect way to start the evening.




Andrea is clearly serious about what he is doing and has a large kitchen brigade making everything in-house including breads and pastas. So finally it’s great to be able to recommend Massimo as a wonderful place to eat as well as being an iconic space. If you want to check it out you can always pop-in for an aperitivo or if you’re Brad Pitt why not hire the private dining room!