Founded by Naz Hassan, Ed Templeton, and Theo James, Ornella is a neighbourhood Milanese restaurant on Wilton Way, close to London Fields.

Named after the iconic Milanese singer Ornella Vanoni, the menu takes from the city where Head Chef Naz Hassan was raised, where his formative years and early culinary career were cultivated.

Serving up Northern Italian dishes including Mondeghili meatballs, Penne alla Vodka, Risotto alla Milanese and Tagliatelle al burro e Parmigiano to locals and visitors.

Less trattoria, more ristorante.

Ornella feels like a real neighbourhood restaurant, burrowed nicely around London Fields. Was it always your intention to open a restaurant for locals to stroll into at any time of day?

We always wanted to be a restaurant for every occasion and not put a label on ourselves. A bigger space is more inclined to welcome guests from any background or area, in London or cities around the world.

We are pleased to have very quickly become a neighbourhood favourite; however, we are humbled by the idea of becoming a destination restaurant for the guests that live far away and take their time to travel to come and dine with us.

What does Milanese cooking mean to you?

Milan is the city that I call home and the cooking at Ornella is very personal to me.

The thought of representing the city where I spent my formative years, the place where I have all my childhood friends is both scary and exciting and to do so outside Italy makes me feel very special and keeps me on my toes.

Every dish has a meaning, and I want to make my fellow Milanese people proud and bring a bit of my city to London, the place I called home for the last 15 years.

What are some of the best dishes on the menu at Ornella right now?

Picking my favourite dish it is very difficult, it is like picking between your favourite child, however, I feel like the unsung hero of the menu is probably the Onion Tajarin.

There’s nothing to hide behind with simple cooking. Does this make it harder to deliver standout dishes?

I think it is equally as hard as making an intricate dish. I find joy in seeing the reaction of people while eating something unassuming that has a complex flavour profile and equally, it makes it way less intimidating for the diners to have something simple on the menu. It allows people to spend time with their friends or family at the table, rather than spending 15 minutes trying to work out what is going on with the menu.

Naz, how has your upbringing in Northern Italy impacted the menu, are there some family recipes featured at Ornella?

Unfortunately not, my family is Bengali so no curries on the menu as it stands. My parents taught me not to be fussy when it came to food and to try everything I could.

I was very lucky I grew up in a lovely area in Milan and in my teenage years I spent a lot of time with my white Italian friends from who I’ve learnt how to pick really good produce and really good restaurants.

I believe this phrase from a famous Milanese rap artist summarises my experience "I've learnt how to eat from the poor, and how to pick restaurants from the wealthy".

Was it important for you to follow the antipasti, primi, secondi, dolci structure - you don’t see this often at modern restaurants?

Food is culture, It is very important to follow a menu format, as every country has a very different way of approaching food and dining out.

Our goal is for our diners to feel like they are in Italy, even if it is just for 2 and a half hours. In a way, we wanted to be as authentic as possible without forgetting where we are.