IT Ibiza to make UK debut in Mayfair with a Michelin-starred chef

Opening on Dover Street, the restaurant will take the site formerly occupied by an art gallery to serve its high-end Italian menu.

Created by Gennaro Esposito, the menu will comprise a selection of southern Italian dishes including olive soup with pan fried cod and almond cream; a reinvented version of classic spaghetti pomodoro; pizza; and a seafood 'Glassball Showstopper' dish made with a variety of fresh, raw fish including seabass, red prawns and tuna.

The restaurant will serve complimentary aperitivo in its lounge and bar area in the late afternoons, and the weekends will see it offer an Italian-inspired brunch, featuring hot and cold starters, mains and desserts.

Esposito’s culinary experience comes from roles working under the likes of Alain Ducasse and Italian chef Gianfranco Vissani. Esposito launched his first solo restaurant, Torre del Saracino, in 1992, which was awarded its first Michelin star in 2001, and its second in 2008.

Esposito oversees the menu at IT Ibiza’s original site on the island, which does not have its own Michelin star yet. The Michelin guide does, however, give the restaurant a “good cooking” plate, and is described in the guide as having an “elegant, contemporary feel” and “interesting menus”.

IT Ibiza founder Alessio Matrone intends to “give locals and visitors alike somewhere totally different in which to eat, drink, work and socialise” with the new Mayfair venture. Besides the restaurant, the space will host a variety of events, and will offer live music in the bar on most evenings.