Bancone is launching a massive pasta terrace in a brutalist London hotel

There are plenty of spots throwing flour around in London, but few command a cult following quite like Bancone. Known for churning out affordable, Michelin-grade fresh pasta, the chain is set to open its sixth location – and this one’s got a sprawling 60-seat al fresco terrace.

Bancone opened its first outpost in Covent Garden in 2018, where it has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand (Michelin’s award for affordable grub) for the past seven years. The group has since expanded to Westminster’s Golden Square, Borough Yards, Kensington High Street and Bank. 

Bancone the sixth will be in, drum roll please… Bloomsbury. A new 140-cover restaurant will be Bancone’s first inside a hotel, taking up residence at the Imperial on Russell Square.

Boasting an open pasta kitchen and a 60-cover terrace, Bancone at the Imperial is set to open in August. This means not only is Bloomsbury getting more handmade pasta outside, but you’ll get to enjoy it in the summer sunshine. 

The 357-room Imperial is currently undergoing a ‘once in a generation’ renovation and will also feature a rooftop bar and restaurant called Arcus. Bancone’s choice for a new location is a total treat for design-loving pasta-heads. Dating back to the 1960s, Charles Lovett Gill’s concrete monolith is one of the city’s best-loved brutalist icons. Over the decades, its corridors have welcomed a mix of guests ranging from EastEnders royalty Barbara Windsor to the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher. 

Food wise, you’ll find all of Bancone’s signatures in Bloomsbury. We’re talking fiery bowls of spicy pork and nduja ragu or their bucatini cacio e pepe. The silk handkerchiefs with walnut butter and confit egg yolk will no doubt still be the talk of the menu, but you can now pimp the dish with shards of crispy guanciale, or pivot completely into fusion territory with a plate of Herdwick hogget pappardelle with soy, Thai basil and chilli.

To wash it all down, the bar is serving up Bancone’s line up of Italian aperitivos, including the crisp, peach and prosecco soaked Aperitivo Bancone. There’s also the chain’s popular house negronis, including its floral Orange Blossom variation. 

Bancone Bloomsbury opens in early August at 61–66 Russell Square, WC1B 5BB. 

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