Phil Howard's new pasta restaurant will now be called NOTTO
The chef is due to open pasta restaurant OTTO in London's Piccadilly next month, but says it will now be renamed NOTTO.
The brand initially debuted as an online delivery service in May 2021 under the OTTO name bringing pasta dishes to central London with Howard announcing in September that it would be opening a permanent restaurant.
Dishes on the menu include hand-cut pappardelle with a ragout of aged Hereford beef shin and red wine; raviolo of scallop and prawn with herbs, lemon zest, spring onions and butter; tagliatelle with chicken stock, tarragon, farmhouse butter, lemon zest and parmesan; and agnolotti of pumpkin and chestnut with brown butter, capers and sage
"Having no desire or intention to clash with an existing business with a similar name we took the quick decision to evolve our own identity to NOTTO - clearly retaining our root identity whilst eliminating any confusion," says Howard.
Executive chef Louis Korovilas, formerly of Locanda Locatelli, Pied à Terre, and Bancone, will oversee the food operation at NOTTO alongside Nicholas Georgoulakis, formerly of Sloane Street Deli and Elystan Street, as general manager. Harvi Singh, who has previously worked at Le Manoir aux Quat’saisons and Elystan Street will be operations manager.
Howard is one of a number of restaurateurs that have found themselves in disputes over naming rights in the past few months. Harrogate-based bar and restaurant recently changed its name from Frog to Lily following a legal challenge from the Adam Handling Restaurant Group, and Taqueria Sonora has been served with a cease and desist by London restaurant group Worldwide Taqueria over the use of the word 'taqueria'.
