Chefs Luke Ahearne and Stevie Parle have joined forces to open a modern London-Italian restaurant and bar in Fitzrovia this October.
Motorino will serve 150 covers and feature its own destination bar. The venue in Pearson Square, the former site of Open House London’s Arber Garden pub, will showcase “the best seasonal produce” from Parle’s trusted suppliers in the UK and Ireland.
Ahearne and Parle aim to deliver a venue “with fun at its core, and without compromising on quality and inventiveness”.
Motorino is Parle’s second new opening within six months, following Town restaurant and bar in London’s Covent Garden, which focuses on sustainable British produce.
Like Town, the bar at Motorino will be overseen by Kevin Armstrong and will include seasonal chargers on tap as well as a line-up of quick-serve, icy cold, direct martinis.
Meanwhile, Ahearne recently departed as head chef at Lita in Marylebone, a Mediterranean bistro which was awarded a Michelin star in under a year.
He said: “Opening Motorino with Stevie is a chance to create something new, bold and exciting in central London. For us it’s all about celebrating great produce, cooking with joy, and bringing my perspective on Italian food to Fitzrovia.”
Parle added: “Luke is a fantastic young chef, passionate about produce, obsessed by quality and consistency, and together we want to create something really special. We’re determined to open the best London-Italian we can. With Luke’s food, Kevin Armstrong’s world class cocktails and a wine list to match, we want to make Motorino the London-Italian this city deserves.”
Parle opened his first restaurant, Dock Kitchen, at London’s Portobello Dock in 2009 when he was just 24 years old. It traded for eight years until it closed in 2017.
The chef’s other restaurant projects have included Craft London, Rotorino and Sardine, all of which have since closed.
Parle returned to Portobello Dock to open the Joy restaurant, retail space and music venue with designer Tom Dixon during the pandemic in 2020, but had to vacate the space to make way for another operator in 2021.
The chef is also behind the Pastaio pasta restaurant group, which has a site in Soho.
Dining and Cooking