IT Ibiza to launch first UK site next month

IT London will be the third addition to the group’s portfolio, and, according to founder Alessio Matrone, will “give the city a totally different experience where fine Mediterranean cuisine meets the Balearic beat of Ibiza”.

The opening, which was announced more than a year ago​​, was originally slated for last winter.

Since then IT has gone on to establish a site in Milan, which opened in April.

Matrone launched the first IT with entrepreneur Ferruccio De Lorenzo in Ibiza in 2015.

The 100+ cover London restaurant will feature a semi-private dining room, with a further function space also available on the upper level.

Gennaro Esposito, who manages all three IT restaurants, will work with head chef Adriano Rausa to oversee the food, which focuses on southern Italian cuisine.

IT’s London menu will feature Esposito’s ‘signature’ spaghetti al pomodoro; nocellara olive soup with almond and fennel purée, and scabbardfish; and a selection of thin-crust pizzas.

It will also include a seafood 'Glassball Showstopper' dish made with a variety of fresh, raw fish including seabass, red prawns and tuna.

Esposito’s culinary experience comes from roles working under the likes of Alain Ducasse and Italian chef Gianfranco Vissani.

He launched his first solo restaurant, Torre del Saracino, in 1992, which was awarded its first Michelin star in 2001, and its second in 2008.