Who said you need molecular foams, wine lists as thick as encyclopedias, and tasting menus straight out of a fairy tale to make a splash on the London food scene? Gennaro Contaldo is here to set everyone straight—spatula in hand and with his trademark, infectious charm. At a ripe old age of 77, Jamie Oliver’s legendary mentor and teacher is returning to the British restaurant scene with what is already shaping up to be the culinary sensation of the season.
The chosen location is the beating heart of Soho, at 40-42 Glasshouse Street (London W1B 5JY). The name? A direct and straightforward tribute to the king of Italian Sundays: BOLO, the affectionate nickname used across the Channel for Bolognese sauce.
A declaration of love for homemade pasta
At a time when the British capital is chasing an almost obsessive regional hyper-specialization, Contaldo bucks the trend and stakes everything on authenticity and simplicity. BOLO will be a small culinary haven seating just 32, an intimate, old-fashioned trattoria designed to evoke the comforts of home and place genuine conviviality at the center.
The culinary offering is a simple yet rigorous statement of intent:
- Fresh, handmade pasta every day, served with traditional, slow-cooked sauces.
- A short, focused menu, free of frills, where the quality of the ingredients and the memories evoked by their aromas speak for themselves.
- The wine list is minimalist, with an almost revolutionary approach: just one wine per color. No endless lists or endless indecision—here, you drink well, straightforwardly, and without frills.
The venture was launched under the auspices of Brava Hospitality Group (the group behind historic brands such as Prezzo and the driving force behind the relaunch of Jamie’s Italian in Leicester Square), but the spirit of BOLO is light-years away from the dynamics of large chains. Here, there’s only one focus: teaching the British how to cook and appreciate authentic Italian pasta.
Gennaro Contaldo: the “pappacoda” from the Amalfi Coast who has captivated British TV
A native of Minori, a charming village on the Amalfi Coast, Gennaro Contaldo took his first steps in the kitchen as a child, fascinated by hunting, fishing, and the spontaneity of cuisine drawn from both the sea and the land. After moving to the United Kingdom in the 1970s, his talent and infectious energy quickly made him a leading figure in London’s restaurant scene.
The turning point in his career came with the 1999 opening of the famous Passione restaurant in Fitzrovia, which was named the best Italian restaurant in London. It was within those walls that he forged a close bond with a young and promising English chef: Jamie Oliver. Contaldo became his spiritual guide in the kitchen, teaching him the secrets of good Italian food, fresh pasta, and a deep-seated passion for authentic ingredients. The author of dozens of best-selling cookbooks and a beloved face on the BBC (his show *Two Greedy Italians*, co-hosted with the late Antonio Carluccio, is particularly famous), Contaldo had not been directly managing his own restaurant in London since 2009, the year Passione closed.
A homecoming
The opening of BOLO brings things full circle. Nearly twenty years after his last solo project, British television’s most famous grandpa is back in the kitchen. And he proves that, beyond passing fads, there’s nothing more modern, comforting, and irresistible than a plate of tagliatelle with ragù made just right.
