For One Week, Chelsea’s Newest Italian Will Let Diners Pay Whatever They Want

The area has long been home to straight-down-the-line pasta and pizza places, but La Mia Mamma, Chelsea’s newest Italian restaurant — which will open its doors at 257 King’s Road on 15 June — is shaking things up by allowing diners to pay whatever they want for their meal during the opening week.

Perhaps more notably, assisting the full-time team — and, presumably casting a frown at such a bizarre initiative — will be 20 Italian “mammas,” flying to London over the coming three months to cook a selection of regional specialties, which will then stay on the restaurant’s menu. Kicking things off will be “Mamma Lidia,” who’ll be preparing Sicilian favourites during her residency. The pasta will be handmade in the window every day, and Lidia herself will be on hand to greet diners.

Meanwhile, executive chef Marco Giugliano (formerly of Il Baretto in Marylebone and now-closed Quattro Passi in Mayfair) will be overseeing the main menu’s a la carte section, which will feature dishes from all over Italy.

Of course, all good things come with a price: To claim the offer, diners will need to follow the restaurant on Instagram or like its Facebook page, upload a photo of their meal with the hashtag #lamiamammalondon, then show it to their server.