The House of Peroni: Art, Design & Lobster Croissants

You may recall us having shared our House of Peroni trips previously here, here and here to be exact - we're a tad obsessed! So, we were thrilled when we heard the next instalment was set to take place throughout May in Holborn by Lincoln's Inn Fields. 

The House of Peroni celebrates the very best of contemporary Italian style and culture - from art and fashion to design and creativity. It's inspired by the spirit of 1963, a transformative year when Italian style became renowned across the world and the year that Carlo Peroni created Peroni Nastro Azzurro.

I was mesmerised as soon as I stepped inside - full to the brim with design work that takes over entire rooms including an optical illusion wallpaper room and a fancy pom pom covered ceiling - super fab...

We wandered four-floors on our way up to the top floor where our exciting invitation awaited ... a Supper Club brunch! So, some background of why and how this Italian-inspired brunch came about. The House of Peroni approached two Italian guys - Silvio and Toto - to re-create their Nonna's Italian Sunday lunch. How lovely! Both men were spoilt as boys with gorgeous traditional Italian homemade comfort food - every Sunday they would visit their grandmother who would serve up her culinary delights. 

With this front of mind, Silvio and Toto took their Nonna's recipes and modernised them to work for The House. We were invited to join the family last Saturday at 12 0'clock sharp!

We got things off to a superb start with THE Mary of all Bloody Marys. This glass of utter heaven was made from the family's delicately spiced tomato Passata recipe, poured over a classic vodka base. The Mary also strangely included garlic, carrots and onion all of which has been slowly cooked for 4 hours with Italian tomatoes. Poured into an icy cold glass topped off with basil, a cherry tom and a wedge of Parmesan! Mini mouse said she felt like she was drinking spag boll (!!!) but I personally loved every gulp!

Alice and Kitty posing for the camera before the feast commenced...

Busy happily sipping away on our Marys, the first few dishes were placed under our noses - an antipasti round!

My absolute favourite of the whole menu - the lobster croissant! A lavish twist on the ordinary breakfast croissant that's for sure… inspired by Nonna's favourite after-mass snack, the Brichoe Salata. The traditional ham filing was tossed aside and swapped for fresh lobster with a delish lemon butter cream and chive flowers. So pretty and so tasty, I never want to eat a plain croissant again as long as I live - it's lobster all the way now… 

We were also treated to bite sized fried chicken pieces marinated in buttermilk and then breaded. This was topped off with a helping of Bloody Mary ketchup - perfection! 

Last but not least - asparagus and potato salad. It sounds dull in comparison to the above but believe me when I say it wasn't in the least. Summery and light and the asparagus was some of the best i've ever tasted...

Next up, I suppose you could call this the main brunch course. We had a choice between two options…

We took a couple of the Uova al Tegamino AKA fried eggs with cheese and a slice of salami. Nonna used to give the two boys this as an afternoon snack - a pretty heavy snack if you ask me and if i'm honest our least favourite on the menu but still very tasty… 

We then ordered just one of the Cassoela to go - served up in a takeout box - pure comfort food, traditionally served during winter months so again quite substantial and filling but wildly yummy! In short we were served up pork stew tucked up in fluffy Focaccia bread with pickled red cabbage and homemade BBQ sauce... nom nom!

It wasn't over just yet though - one final course to well and truly push us over the edge - Dolce! Silvio himself served us and he had told us when we were first seated that his grandmother was a dab hand when it came to dessert, so we had left just enough room to taste-test her inspired creations. 

Bombolone, Sicilian cannolo with a coffee cream, Pastiera tart and a cup of steaming coffee to wake us up out of our food coma… 

WOW-oh-WOW - seriously. Too much. Too good. Utter heaven!!!

The end - at last! Out we rolled, practically bursting at the seams but happy as larry after a feast fit for a king - here's photo evidence to prove it with a truck load of breathing in going on after gobbling a month's worth of food...!

Normal people would now take the opportunity to head home and have a lie down before the fun and frolics of Saturday night commenced BUT oh no we decide a bottle of champers at the Savoy sounded like a cracker of an idea so off we went to end our day on an indulgent high and start the evening off with a 'pop'...

House of Peroni : Take Two...

When I heard the House of Peroni was back for a second season running my reaction was pretty much this...

You may remember my review of The House of Peroni back in July so when my invitation to attend the launch party of part two popped into my 3BM inbox, I RSVPed in a heartbeat. 

The House of Peroni is all about showcasing a new wave of Italian style and creativity. Part two was centred around fashion, film and of course food and drink. Film was a particular focus this time round with the space boasting a luxurious cinema showing a series of contemporary Italian films each evening as well as a weekly, hotly anticipated ticketed film and dining experience but more on that later...!

See what mini mouse and I got up to at the launch party...

But one Peroni outing wasn't enough for me - greedy little mouse - so of course I went back for more... For my second outing, I was treated to an experience fuelled cinema session with my good friend Sarah. So what did that entail?

Well... an exclusive screening of Paolo Sorrentino’s 'The Great Beauty' which is hotly tipped for an Oscar nomination for starters. And as if that wasn't special enough, guests were also promised a lavishly designed 8-course menu created by Italian restaurant, Bottega Wapping. Put the two together and what do you get? ...out of this world food that brings to life the tastes, smells and textures of the film. It really was a completely new way to experience and appreciate film - I'm not so sure that i'll ever be able to go back to bog standard cinema munchings ever again, bye bye popcorn and pick 'n' mix!

We started our Roman inspired film feast by being ushered into a plush and intimate little theatre set up with a scattering of oh so comfy squishy sofas. We settled down into our designated seats and waited, anticipation building by the second, to find out what Peroni had planned for the rest of our evening! First up a bottle of chilled Peroni Nastro Azzurro was presented, well it would be rude not to! Next up the following was placed before our very eyes...

Intriguing...What could be inside a stack of plain white boxes each labelled with a single word?! Well, we were quickly brought up to speed - at key moments in the film one of the House of Peroni girls would walk into the cosy cinema and hold up a sign featuring a word. This word would map back to one of the boxes sitting in front of us, match the word to the box, open it up and consume the contents. How very exciting! Food coupled with this much anticipation was almost too much for me...!

Without further ado the film started to roll...

 

Ten minutes in, and I was starting to get itchy feet - I wanted to uncover the masterpiece sitting inside my first film feast box. Sure enough a couple of minutes later the Peroni girl strode in and held up her first sign. Everyone jumped forward and greedily whipped open their box number one... The 'Cocktail' which contained a dish of scallop, almond crisp bread and a Negroni jelly cube all topped off with raw vegatables marinated in orange juice. Delish. 

And the barrage of gastronomic delights continued apace from there with the likes of... 

Rome's most popular and authentic dish - croquettes with slow cooked tomato sauce, pine nuts, raisins and chocolate breadcrumbs

Tuna tartare, seaweed, oyster water and black squid mayonnaise

Deconstructed carbonara with oozy egg yolk and tortelloni

Lamb cooked in Peroni Nastro Azzurro with Roman-style artichoke

Sadly because I was eating the above in a dark cinema I couldn't take any snaps so I don't have photography to do the dishes justice. BUT what I do have is one single of picture of the piece de resistance - the puds, which consisting off three desserts. My favourite being Gin & Tonic jelly - stiff but inspired...

All in all, an unforgettable experience! It's just a shame The House is closing shop on 30th November so I can't go every week...

House of Peroni

41 Portland Place

Marylebone

London

+44 (0)203 176 2177

www.thehouseofperoni.com

The House of Peroni : Experimental Sensation...

Hands up if you like Peroni...? Hands up if you like delicious Italian nosh washed down with scrummy experimental cocktails and all on a charming roof terrace...? Lastly hands up if you like quirky art displays and installations that will blow your pretty little socks off...? If the answer to the above is YES YES YES then boy have I got a recommendation for you!

Last week I was invited to check out The House of Peroni, an Italian inspired pop-up created just for the month of July. I had heard lots of chatter and hype about the space from colleagues so was itching to find a spare evening so I could go along to experience it first-hand. How does the saying go ... 'if you wish for something hard enough it might just happen' ... well that it did because as if by magic, an invite from the very lovely PR popped into my inbox! I accepted immediately and was spoilt even further by being given a plus 2 so I could weave the visit into my evening plans for the week. Nams and Jimmy were my chosen couple so off we headed for an evening of fun...

To give you a bit of background, The House of Peroni project is centred around showcasing a new wave of Italian creative talent from food, drink, design, art to fashion. Fifty years ago, Carlo Peroni was inspired to create the first Italian premium larger, Peroni Nastro Azzurro - to mark this milestone The House of Peroni was born to inspire others to realise their potential and act on their dreams and creative visions. 'The House' was brought to life by a super talented collective of individuals who formed a creative council. This group consisted of fashion designer Carlo Brandelli, Michelin starred chefs Christian and Manual Costardi, drinks innovator and mixologist Gerry Calabrese, product designer Giovanni Alessi Anghini and architect Andrea Morgante. Collectively these six individuals joined forces and dedicated their time to making The House of Peroni a truly awe-inspiring place for guests to see, touch, taste, hang out and immerse themselves in a haven of Italian creativity. 

We kicked out evening off with a round of cocktails - start as you mean to go on, that's what I say. Gerry Calabrese, a reputable London bar scene figure, developed the bespoke cocktail menu boasting six lip-smackingly good cocktails inspired by the four core ingredients of Peroni Nastro Azzurro. We opted for three different tipples and took turns to take sips! We ordered up the 'Nonna Rosa' which is a champagne fuelled cup of heaven with a splash of gin and lemon juice and a pinch of basil with berry addition. At 2.7 units we was pretty merry by the time the last alcoholic drop was consumed. We also ordered a 'Dell'isola' which we dubbed the coca cola cocktail - made from a mix of lemon juice, peach liquor, champagne and Averna. Last but by no means least the 'On Thyme' was bought into our booze-fuelled evening - St.Germain, gin and Martini Bianco infused with blueberries and thyme. Each and every one was totally and utterly moreish! 

Each cocktail featured the signature Peroni Nastro Azzurro reduction which essentially is a syrupy sweet yet boozy concoction. We asked our enthusiastic waiter to talk us through the process in which the secret ingredient was made - so they start out with approx. 100 litres of Peroni, this is then heated and muscovado sugar is gradually added until the liquid reduces to about 3-5 litres of syrup. Our kind and attentive waiter treated us to a sample of pure Peroni goodness which we greedily lapped up...

Suitably relaxed by the Peroni infused cocktails we decided food to line our grumbling tummies was most definitely in order. Upon looking at the menu I was struck by the fact that this wasn't normal grub but something unique and like the cocktails, experimental. Michelin starred Italian chef duo, Christian and Manual Costardi have taken traditional Italian dishes and inject a taste sensation twist. Dubbed 'Assagi' meaning 'taste' in Italian the dishes on offer are made using the finest ingredients imported from Italy's Vercelli region. To start we ordered up the Deconstructed Parmigiana - layered aubergine cooked first in a pan, then steamed and served up with buffalo mozzarella alongside the Tricolore Arancino which oozed red risotto rice (a little under cooked for my likely) with mozzarella and green pesto. We were also tempted by the Bruschetta Rewritten - bread, cheese, pork cheek with a raw beef layer – delizioso! 

Whilst we waited for our round of mains we quenched our thirst with another round of cocktails. This time we went for The Bergamo Ice Tea, Summer of 63 and the Blue Ribbon Smash – perfect after dinner summer aperitifs! 

Ten boozy minutes later and our mains arrived. We’d ordered two portions of the Signature Risotto made using coffee powder, Grana Padano cheese and that good old Peroni reduction again - seriously rich but seriously good! 

After copious amounts of fab food and cocktails, the thought of fitting in pudding was somewhat unimaginable BUT we put that thought to the side and embraced out inner piggy opting for the Beer Panna Cotta (the best I have ever tasted FYI) and the Sweet & Salty dessert which was a combo of banana, beer and chocolate - a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips definitely springs to mind where this pud is involved!

But may I add, The House of Peroni has a whole lot more to offer than just scrumptious food and drink. Daily interactive workshops are also hosted and led by members of the creative council and other headline names across the creative arts as well as a design/art exhibition showcasing young Italian talent shaping the creative landscape of tomorrow. Honorary mouse and good friend, Julia McColl actually went along to a talk last night held at ‘The House’ all about the influence Italian fashion has on the Oscars’ red carpet. She will be sharing her experience and insights next week so stay tuned…

The House of Peroni

41 Portland Place

London

W1B 1QH

Open until 31st July

Monday - Thursday: 12pm - 11.30pm

Friday: 12pm - 12.30am

Saturday - Sunday: 12pm - 11.30pm

3BM lust Tuesday : Repossi

I'm going to go all out here and make a bold bling statement ... when it comes to jewellery collections, us Mice collectively own more than The Crown Jewels at the Tower of London! The 3BM collection might not feature as many precious stones, but we work our gold and crystals to the max! Our obsession means that we're always on the look out for the next rocking jewellery designer and by golly have we got a corker to share with you ... Repossi, an Italian-born jewellery brand founded in 1925. Think bold, beautiful and brave!

Image via www.adelinadreamsof.blogspot.com

I stumbled across Repossi for the first time last week when I popped into the too cool for school (or should i spell in skool - no that doesn't sit well with me...!) Opening Ceremony in Covent Garden. The store was displaying a range of standout rings and ear cuffs and they made me stop in my tracks, making me fashionably late for the dinner that I was on my way to! The aspect that struck me most about the items were their simplicity - the key to fashion in my eyes. I fell completely in love with a pinky memory ring shimmering back at me so I waved down the nearest shop assistant and asked to try it on. Big mistake, huge! A snapshot of the thoughts going through my head when contact was made with this little work of art ... 'I HAVE to have it' ... 'my life will be incomplete without it' ... 'if I don't buy it now I'll regret it forever' ... 'it's a staple piece that will go with everything'... 'the cost per wear will be miniscule' ... You get my drift! So it was decided. I would just have to have it. Next comes the question to seal the deal ... 'how much?' but the answer received was met with the follow I beg your pardon face....

To be specific, the price tag for this little slice of heaven was £1k odd. As amazing as it was, I just couldn't justify, as sad as that made me. That's not to say I'm not going to think about that little pinky with every breath until the day I die however! 

Some Repossi food for thought here...

Image via www.repossi.com

Image via www.marieclaire.com

Image via www.poccaa.blogspot.com

As i've mentioned above the brand was born in 1925. The ever so stylish, Gaia, the Artistic Director of the brand, pays tributes to her family's long-standing heritage today and does so with every collection launched.  

With hefty price tags come plenty of uber-fabulous celebrity fans ... Diane Kruger, Kate Bosworth and Rihanna are all super fans of the brand and have been papped out and about showing off their Repossi jewels - if it's good enough for them...

Image via www.repossi.com

Check out the range at Netaporter or Opening Ceremony - I challenge you not to drool...!

Image via www.oxygeneboutique.com

Image via www.repossi.com

Image via www.young-blood-runs-wild.blogspot.com