The story
Artusi describes itself as an effortlessly cool Italian restaurant, and that understated confidence sets the tone from the moment you step inside. Located on Peckham’s Bellenden Road, the space feels both relaxed and considered – the kind of place where you might drop in for a quick lunch or settle in for a long evening. An open kitchen and a kitchen table for groups of eight or more (with a sharing menu at £40 per person) add a convivial, hands-on energy.
The cooking is homely but precise, rooted in Italian tradition but not bound by it. Starters on a recent sample menu included magatello di manzo with celeriac remoulade and quince, and smoked cod’s roe with crispy polenta and a soft-boiled egg. Pastas change regularly – think ravioli di erbette, tagliatelle with nuda and datterini tomatoes, or nettle gnocchi. Mains such as braised featherblade with confit garlic mash and cime di rapa, or cod with butterbeans and purple sprouting broccoli, show a kitchen that respects ingredients and seasons. On Sundays, a three-course set menu for £29 offers particularly good value.
The wine list is exclusively Italian, with a thoughtfully curated selection spanning sparkling, white, orange, rosé, red, and sweet. From a glass of Cantine Rallo’s Tule bianco to a bottle of G.D. Vajra Barolo, the list rewards exploration. Orange and natural wines feature prominently, alongside classics from Piedmont, Tuscany, and Sicily.
In 2026, Michelin awarded Artusi a Bib Gourmand, its citation for good quality, good value cooking. It is a fitting acknowledgment of a restaurant that delivers genuine, generous Italian cooking without pretension.
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good quality, good value cooking
A dark frontage punctuated by full-length windows reveals a spare-looking café-like interior, a narrow room with plain white walls and a constantly changing chalkboard menu – in short, Artusi is a ‘perfect neighbourhood restaurant’. Down some steps at the back, there is a chef's table for eight, with views of the open kitchen. This is Italian dining, Peckham-style, and none the worse for it. The infectious straightforwardness of the approach is reflected in a dinner menu that offers three choices at each stage, with a couple of intervening pasta options. Start, perhaps, with a pretty plate of roasted fennel, Russet apples, ricotta and walnuts before moving on to cod with butter beans, purple sprouting broccoli and preserved lemon aïoli or braised featherblade of beef accompanied by confit garlic mash and cime di rapa. Don't want to miss the pasta? Ravioli di erbette (stuffed with wild greens, ricotta and sage) may well have your name on it. The Italian way with carbo-desserts then produces an irresistibly toothsome pistachio and chocolate cake with crème fraîche. Lunch is a simpler affair (but similar in style), while Sunday brings a great-value set menu. Wines are not exclusively Italian, but those represent the best way of entering into the spirit. They've also got some oranged-up Sicilian Catarratto, if Pinot Grigio now seems a little vecchio cappello. A second outlet is now open at the Underbelly Boulevard in Soho.
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