Archived on 6/5/2022

Sfizio: Modern Italian Kitchen on Perry Vale

weepy
9 Sep '18

There’s a banner up over the Perry Vale “Coming soon: Pizza Tapas & Cocktails”. Sounds promising.

RachaelDunlop
9 Sep '18

Tapas, yes. Tapas and pizza? WHY???

weepy
9 Sep '18

Guess they are worried about casting the net wide enough in that location. Pizza for the kids. Tapas for the grown ups?

RachaelDunlop
9 Sep '18

Kids love tapas, there’s always plenty they can eat, so I wouldn’t think that’s the reasoning. But I agree, it’s about widening the net. To me, though, that implies lack of confidence in their offer. I’d love to see a restaurant there with focus, doing something - one thing - really well.

My ‘WHY??’ was more of an existential howl than a question.

weepy
9 Sep '18

Yeah I agree. It also waters down their marketing message. What is it. ?? Eg High Thyme suffers from this. They make nice food but it’s hard to occupy a space in people’s mind since they offer a jack of all trades list.

Charlo
9 Sep '18

I would be reluctant to try a restaurant who diversify like this. Usually means neither is done too well and not a destination for either.
Also pizza?!! Aaagh!

Michael
9 Sep '18

How about we give them just a little chance to get things going? It could be the best pizza and tapas combo we have ever experienced. It could be that this is the new fusion food that will be all over Shoreditch by the end of the decade.

And, if i may be allowed a little rant for a moment, why do we all have to eat one type of food at a restaurant? A menu entirely based around chicken, or putting slabs of stuff in buns, or pizzas, or raw fish are all very limiting. When i eat with friends or family we rarely all want to eat the same thing, so a bit of diversity on the menu is good.

A cocktail bar with tapas sounds like a good idea to me and the pizzas will allow them to provide proper meals.

It might work, it might not and they might need to adjust, but I hope that one way or another it is successful.

Pea
9 Sep '18

I agree and I really hope this is a success. The location is great for an after work bite.

I also think Tapas will be great for two reasons. 1) you can scale it up to be as big or small as your appetite and 2) you can scale it up or down depending on budget.

With some good cocktails, beers and wine I could see this being a real success. :crossed_fingers:

weepy
9 Sep '18

Definitely let’s give them a chance!

anon5422159
9 Sep '18

I wish this new restaurant the best, but I agree with @RachaelDunlop about the lack of focus.

I’ve never eaten in a memorable “fusion” restaurant. Except perhaps Burger and Lobster - but in that case they succeed on a deliberately limited offering, and they are not mixing two “cultures”

When I think tapas I think Spain. Sangria. Churros. Donde.

When I think pizza I think Italy. Burrata, tiramisu, Mamma Dough.

If the new restaurant is for families with kids, perhaps the tapas/pizza combo will work. But I can’t see it being a memorable offering for adults. Hoping to be proved wrong

RachaelDunlop
9 Sep '18

IMO the thing that scuppered the Perryvale was lack of focus. That’s something any new owner should take on board.

applespider
9 Sep '18

Perhaps it’s a new concept in small pizzas? Much depends on whether there’s a comma between pizza and tapas. :nerd_face:

There’s a great Venetian cicchetti place near work that do pizzettas and small plates of pasta, antipasti and secondi. Invariably I hear it described as Italian tapas and mini pizzas.

Fingers crossed that whatever it is, it’s tasty, reasonably priced and a success.

Swagger
9 Sep '18

Will they get enough footfall for the venture to be a success?

RachaelDunlop
9 Sep '18

Venetian small plates would be amazing.

A substantial restaurant with a specific offer doesn’t rely much on ‘footfall’. It needs a USP and smart marketing to get people to specifically come.

ForestHull
9 Sep '18

Here’s the banner:

Sounds like it will be called SFIZIO?!?

Cpw1978
9 Sep '18

As Londoners don’t we pride ourselves on mixing ‘cultures’? A new take on Med cuisine, how wonderful and brave. Change is progress after all.

RachaelDunlop
9 Sep '18

Ah, new information. The sign says ITALIAN tapas. That’s much more encouraging.

starman
9 Sep '18

Oh. It could be like Polpo in Central London. That would be amazing.

RachaelDunlop
9 Sep '18

I LOVE Polpo. I’m obsessed with Venice, and love that cuisine.

Sfizio is a common name for Italian restaurants. It sort of means ‘a little of what you fancy’.

Swagger
9 Sep '18

Looking at the photos posted after your reply it looks like this venture is opposite Forest Hill train station. Even though it’s on the same road, for some reason I never associate Perry Vale as that far up. I assumed it was opening on the parade on the corner (thereabouts) of Perry Vale and Perry Rise. Footfall clearly won’t be an issue, regardless of their USP and/or marketing.

ThorNogson
13 Sep '18

Opening end of this month according to the guys working there yesterday.

ForestHull
17 Sep '18

Lights on, people in there tidying and moving things around. The interior still looks good from how it was!

Very exciting to see the shutters up again.

starman
17 Sep '18

Having just had an outstanding Italian meal in Covent Garden I’m now even more excited about a local venue. Please please let it be good.

Audrey_Finch
17 Sep '18

I do worry a bit for the other Italian restaurant on Perry Vale. Hope they can both do well somehow

Dave
17 Sep '18

Pizza Della Cucina has a dedicated and (hopefully) loyal following. It’s amazingly family-friendly and a lovely place.

starman
17 Sep '18

It’s my go to for amazing Pizza and great beer garden. I’m looking forward to the new place too.

jonfrewin
18 Sep '18

The garden at Piazza della Cucina is amazing - and it was absolutely heaving on a weekday evening when we were there the other week. I love their charcoal pizza bases too.

LEON
18 Sep '18

I know the people behind this. They are local residents.

I have sampled their food at family events & it is very authentic Italian. It could be a really very good addition.

Referring to tapas could be misleading & maybe undoing themselves. Italian small plates are often the kind served in Venetian bàcari.

If anyone has had chance to go to Polpo in Central London, that will give you an idea.

Give them a chance

SORRY - I just saw Rachels post

weepy
18 Sep '18

Holy Cow. “Polpo” in Forest Hill would be a big win

topofthehill
18 Sep '18

The new Italian restaurant has the advantage in that it can be accessed by the disabled.

ForestHull
18 Sep '18

While true, that’s not the fault of the other pizza restaurant who really have made the best of what they have.

And sadly the Perry Vale is still a long way around from Forest Hill platform 2… If only the lift there went to street level.

Timmo44
9 Oct '18

I’m looking forward to it. We really liked the Perry Vale restaurant. But I’m guessing the rents are high in that new build hence two restaurants have failed there already.

RJM
9 Oct '18

Their website is up, the menu is making me hungry! https://www.sfiziotapas.com/

RachaelDunlop
9 Oct '18

That looks the absolute business!

starman
9 Oct '18

From the website.

Sfizio opened in October 2018

Is it open already? And…

Whilst Sfizio will be using the finest San Marzano tomatoes from the Valley of Sarno, and fresh Mozarella Di Bufala.

Please please please please let them have some of this for offsales. I miss the great selection of Italian tomatoes at Il Mirto. Some nice wines listed too.

applespider
9 Oct '18

Oooh! That menu is sounding good! :yum:

depeche
9 Oct '18

looks great!

ThorNogson
9 Oct '18

see you all at ‘Apperitivo Time’ !

ForestHull
9 Oct '18

Is it open on a Friday? The website seems to be missing that detail!

Sgc
9 Oct '18

Yes I noticed the same but when you scroll down at the bottom of the page it mentions reservations and quotes Friday opening times to be same as Monday to Thursday.

applespider
9 Oct '18

So when are we all rocking up? And has anyone figured out when they actually open?

Jerry
10 Oct '18

And is anyone confident that they have the correct pronunciation of the name?!

RJM
10 Oct '18

I’ve used their contact form to ask when they actually open. I will update when I get a reply! Or when I’ve got in first and am sitting with a drink :grin:

RachaelDunlop
10 Oct '18
Anotherjohn
10 Oct '18

They could have helped us by naming it
S V E T S E O

This looks like it can really work here - great menu, good prices so good luck to them (and I don’t think it will necessarily be to the detriment of La Cucina because 2 similar restaurants can create a bigger draw of clientele, which they share between them)

Cibbyx
11 Oct '18

All looks lovely! Can’t wait to try

Jack
12 Oct '18

Looks good. When is it open?

LeeHC
12 Oct '18

Just walked past and they are finishing signage, tables inside were set ready- gonna be v soon by the look of it!

Bryony
12 Oct '18

Apparently they aim to have a ‘soft opening’ this coming Tuesday.
Looking forward to trying it soon!

ForestHull
12 Oct '18

Looks cozy already, even without the customers!

appletree
12 Oct '18

Menu looks nice. Hope it succeeds.

RachaelDunlop
12 Oct '18

Lucky for them to inherit all the gorgeous fixtures and fittings from the Perryvale.

ForestHull
16 Oct '18

Looks like it might be open to the public tonight… A few people in there, all tables set and looking nice.

James1P
16 Oct '18

They were handing out pizza samples when I went past earlier. Shame I was on my bike!

Fran_487
16 Oct '18

First reports back from the locals - it’s REALLY good pizza. Well-sourced ingredients, nice menu…oh god please let it be great and stick around!

anon29047591
17 Oct '18

We popped in for a quick drink on the way home after being persuaded in by free pizza. Staff are nice and the food looked good!! Booked a table on Saturday to give it a proper go

James1P
18 Oct '18

Had dinner here this evening. Throughly recommended. The food was great, very fresh and tasty and made using quality ingredients. The pizza was outstanding and the tapas, especially the aubergine and mozzarella balls were good. The service was a little slow and muddled but to be expected on day 3 but I’m sure will improve over time. The restaurant was full when we left at 8.30 so hopefully a sign of things to come.

Abbie_Curtis
18 Oct '18

SO many teething problems! Hopefully they sort it out. But a long way to go.

Auntistella
21 Oct '18

All I have to say I’s WOW! This place in forest Hill is amazing , the food is brilliant with a large range , it is fantastic for all ages and families , very clean and fantastic enviroment ,the staff is friendly and kind, the quality was fantastic , great place to spend a night with a couple or a family.

anon22025233
22 Oct '18

I’m a bit suspicious.

Howdo
23 Oct '18

Yes. All the hallmarks of a fake review imho.

We went last week and I’d call it a work in progress. Drinks-wise our £5.50 Mocktail artived in a cheapy ikea glass unstirred, without the advertised fresh mint and crushed ice and it tasted pretty foul. Peroni arrived in a glass too small to contain it. Only 1 red and 1 white by the glass. Folded bits of handwritten card to denote table numbers. Service chaotic and slow but really friendly. Pizza dough tough and chorizo not great quality. Manager not that interested in feedback.

I’m sure some of these things will be addressed as they become established, some are I’m sure my own pedantry, but some speak to a misreading of what a successful urbane restaurant needs to deliver on to get customers coming back.

ForestHull
23 Oct '18

Only one way to tell for sure, and that’s to go and try it for ourselves!

Beige
23 Oct '18

it’s missing the unimportant negative point used to avoid flagging algorithms… ie:

“the quality was fantastic, it was a shame the light bulb above our table blew, but a great place to spend a night with a couple or a family.”

applespider
23 Oct '18

However, as you say, it was week 1 and even pro critics give places a bit of grace until things have bedded in.

So far, there’s one good and one middling review - and one which is possibly from a friend to the business. Having said that I was once accused of a fake review on EDF for a local coffee shop when I was genuinely a customer with no connection whatsoever (albeit with a much longer posting history)

I’m looking forward to trying it in the next few weeks.

Dood
24 Oct '18

Went last Friday without a reservation and was told there were no tables free at the moment but we could wait at the bar. I think they forgot about us though as an hour went by and we were still at the bar. They did let us order the tapas food to eat att he bar but we couldn’t try the pasta or pizza. The food was really good and the drinks weren’t too expensive, but I think they might need to work on their communication with customers. Will try it again soon (with a reservation!).

watchman45
24 Oct '18

Same thing happened to me ,I did point out that the benches had space manger just rolled his eyes and repeated you can wait at the bar ,not inpressed with his attitude so walked out

RachaelDunlop
24 Oct '18

@LEON Can you direct the owners of Sfizio to this thread? Every new business can benefit from this sort of feedback and ironing out service issues early on is essential.

James1P
24 Oct '18

Good shout.

Cdrums
24 Oct '18

I went tonight and had a really good meal.
Spoke to the owner and his brother is the head chef. The food was tasty…The tiramasu was nice but needed a bit more coffee, the prawn spaghetti was yummy and the small plates of meatballs and arancini were good.
Only one white and one red by the glass but the red was nice so no complaints.
Service was prompt but the staff could be a little friendlier but they are pleasant.
Would recommend and would go back.

ThorNogson
25 Oct '18

Yet to try this but I had a pleasant chat with the owner when passing yesterday, in which I also mentioned this thread. After many, many years of experience in the business he is confident in his product and was quite clearly all over the detail of his first week of operation. He says most feedback has been excellent and believes the great majority of customers will come again.

Fran_487
25 Oct '18

I had some tapas snacks here and one of the strongest negronis of my life this week. The staff was friendly although def need to settle into their roles a little more comfortably. The reviews of my companions who ate a full meal were positive, and the owner was very friendly when I introduced myself as a neighbour. I think in inheriting the interior of the Perry Vale, which doesn’t remotely resemble the visual identity of Sfizio (which extends to a logo and a menu at the moment) they’ve got a bit of a problem with image. Nothing in the space screams “warm friendly Italian restaurant”, which would be something I’d recommend they work on over time. But the food was nice, the staff were nice, the drinks were great (hic) and I’m cautiously optimistic for their future.

RachaelDunlop
25 Oct '18

To be honest, that’s not a look that would attract me to a tapas and cocktails venue. I’d be looking for something more contemporary.

Fran_487
25 Oct '18

Fair, but their logo doesn’t look contemporary either. It’s got a bit of a personality/brand crisis going on which I think needs time to sort itself out. They’ve got an interior that says one thing, but a menu/site/logo that says something very different. I feel that for a place to take root and build a following, it needs a bit more confidence in its identity. But then, visual identity is my job, so I’m always going to place more value on stuff like that than others might. The main thing should be the food!

RachaelDunlop
25 Oct '18

Agreed it needs to be synthesised. If it were me, though, I’d make the logo and other graphics match that beautiful interior, not the other way around. Piazza Della Cucina changed its frontage and identity fairly swiftly to something much fresher and more contemporary and it was an excellent decision.

RJM
26 Oct '18

We went last night and made our way through at least half of the small plates :smiley:

Food was really good, the wine was nice, the staff were pleasant - we will definitely be back. I really like the decor, but the orange branding does nothing for it, I agree with Rachael that they should change the branding to match the interior. I like the idea of tapas and cocktails more then “friendly local Italian” - there’s a good one of those on Sydenham Road which is a similar distance from my house, something different is much more appealing. We agreed that one of the selling points was that it wasn’t the same as is on offer elsewhere!

Next time, I’m having cocktails!

hojo
27 Oct '18

Went last night, really enjoyed it. Great, fresh calamari, decent pizza, nice house wine and cocktails. Could be a little cosier but overall pleased to have a new place in the area. Ticks a lot of boxes, would go back.

ambient
28 Oct '18

Ate here last night, would echo most of the comments so far. Food is really good. Service is a little haphazard but i’m sure that will sort itself over time. Felt it was a little pricey, but then I imagine the overheads of that site are quite high, especially if The Perry Vale couldn’t make it work either. Will be back though!

weepy
28 Oct '18

What is the pricing like. ?

Fran_487
28 Oct '18

Here’s the menu.

I think it’s in the upper region of reasonable. But then I haven’t eaten a full meal here yet so maybe it stacks up.

weepy
28 Oct '18

Sounds about right. Not tried. You don’t go there to save money right :wink:

anon26043310
28 Oct '18

Do they serve the tentacles with the calamari? It’s my favourite part and i don’t know why restaurants rarely serve them!

hojo
28 Oct '18

No but I wish they did! Agree it’s the best bit!

ThorNogson
28 Oct '18

also went last night. We treated it as tapas and split 3 fritti, 3 tapas and one huge plate of homemade pasta (Orecchiette Pugliese, delicious!) between 3 of us. With a soft drink, a couple of bottles of house red (very nice Nero d’Avalo), coffees and a shared tiramisu to taste it came to a tad over £30 a head. This was plenty of food for 3, and it was all very tasty, hot and arrived together. Manager and staff team were all welcoming and happy to chat. Will definitely go again.

anon26043310
10 Nov '18

Just wanted to share my review of Sfizio. My husband and i went Friday night. We hadn’t booked but they accomodated us just fine.

I dont think we were advised very well by the waitress as she told us to choose two tapas and a main each. Well, turns out that was a little too much food for two people! We should have done two tapas each and a main to share (or similar).

The tapas dishes we chose (calamari, slow cooked beef, octopus and melanzane) were fine but the mains (orrecchiette and bufalina pizza) were delicious!

The thing i thought was odd though, was that they brought all the dishes out at the same time! I dont quite know why they did that and whether we were expected to order as we went along but it did mean we were in and out within an hour. Probably explains why we couldn’t finish our food either…

We will go back but we will focus on the larger dishes.

jonfrewin
9 Jun '19

There’s been no mention of Sfizio since last November, but I thought I’d share a couple of anecdotes. One friend likes it so much, he ate there five nights in a row. My parents-in-law thought it was so good that they took my kids two nights running this weekend! We are probably going to check it out for the first time next weekend. It was worryingly a bit quiet both nights, apparently. Worth noting also that kids eat free before 6pm Saturday and Sunday.

Foresthillnick
10 Jun '19

I need to give them another go.
We went on a hugely busy Friday night after a couple of pints in the All Inn One.
They said they had a table but we had to wait 15 mins so we had another beer!
Then the food took an age to arrive by which time we had drunk some more wine/beer.
The food was OK when it arrived but some of it was a bit cold and we didn’t really enjoy it - all the tapas dishes arrived at once too which makes no sense to me.
Anyway it generally gets a good write up so I should go back one night.

natalieh101
25 Sep '19

Does anyone know if Sfizio is closed for good? Tried to go at the weekend but it was shut :frowning:

Gem_Megumi
25 Sep '19

It’s temporary from what I saw, issues with the kitchen or something. Surely they do well enough, I’ll be very disappointed if they are closed permanently.

BingBong
25 Sep '19

I hope not! Have a table booked for Saturday, and definitely spoke to a real person earlier this evening when booking it.

natalieh101
25 Sep '19

Oh hurrah!

blushingsnail
26 Sep '19

There were definitely customers in there last night.

wattsicle
16 Nov '19

I’ve been enjoying takeaway pizzas from Sfizio for 6 months but tonight my partner and I dined for the 1st time… and the pizzas tasted even better- served piping hot. We had starters too which were delicious as was the desert. 2 starters, 2 pizzas, a dessert, a beer and a wine for £50 including tip - I don’t think you can grumble. Our waiter was really lovely and friendly too. I want this restaurant to be busier as I really don’t want to lose it!

Estelle_Lauren
17 Nov '19

We went for the first time on Friday. Really impressive. The arancini was awesome!

jonfrewin
18 Nov '19

We’ve now been several times as well, and have always had a great meal. It’s worryingly quiet though, so would be good to see the place getting more support locally!

Twitter
5 Dec '19
Twitter
23 Jun '20
weepy
24 Jun '20

Fish and chips - bangers and mash - Modern Italian ? Huh

Poppleoppledus
24 Jun '20

Um. This is a bit of a shame. I love the current menu

wattsicle
24 Jun '20

Nooooooooo - it was the best pizza around :frowning:

jonfrewin
24 Jun '20

We do too!

natalieh101
24 Jun '20

No more orecchiette? :slightly_frowning_face:

Poppleoppledus
25 Jun '20

I don’t know if this is temporary or of it’s in different hands now but went today and it was so bad. Totally different pizza. Like a biscuit

topofthehill
28 Jun '20

I heard many months ago that it had either been sold or was in the process of being sold. Don’t know the outcome though.

wattsicle
3 Oct '20

Anyone been back recently? Back on good form? X

Lesley_Wilkins
3 Oct '20

Went for lunch this week and service was good, felt safe and food good