New East London Restaurant Promises a New Tasting Menu Every Day

The former head chef of Pidgin in Hackney, which is known for its complete weekly menu overhaul, has announced details of his first solo venture. Adolfo de Cecco will open Casa Fofó on Clapton’s Sandringham Road next month, in a site formerly occupied by pizzeria Lardo Bebe. The main room will have 16 covers, with 12 at the communal table in the basement. The menu will follow in Pidgin’s spirit, with a daily changing five-to-seven courses; Greg Clarke is taking over de Cecco’s position from 11 March.

Named after De Cecco’s grandfather, who was a passionate cook, Casa Fofó will serve that daily changing tasting menu with a “global” scope, with dishes served on ceramics made by Sam Marks. A snack menu of small bites will feature the likes of beef fat pommes darphin, and tempura shiso leaf with retired dairy cow beef tartare and XO sabayon. Meanwhile, main dishes will include:

• Almond tortello in cock crab and brown butter “tom yum” broth
• Yeast and shoaxing wine glazed Middle White pork, tomato sambal-marinated lettuce, and sweet-and-sour peanut jus
• Mah Kwan pepper croqueline, shio koji mascarpone, lovage and berries.

De Cecco, who describes the opening as “a very challenging but also exciting moment”, started his career as a kitchen porter at an Italian restaurant in Amsterdam, going on to work at two-Michelin-starred Perbellini in Verona, Tetsuya’s in Sydney and Galvin at Windows. The proposed dishes follow the style of de Cecco’s tenure at Pidgin, which James Ramsden and Sam Herlihy opened on Wilton Way, near London Fields in Hackney in July, 2015.