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Vigata co-owner Angelo Giorgianni, Patricia Giorgianni, and co-owner Salvo Betta |
Authentic Sicilian specialities
VIGATA is named after an imaginary small Sicilian town created by Italian writer Andrea Camilleri. The main character is a food-loving police inspector who solves crimes between eating meals of typical Sicilian specialities.
Angelo Giorgianni, 54, the restaurant’s co-owner and a fan of the writer, is himself from a small Sicilian village. And he believes many of life’s problems can be solved over a good meal.
“Customers are my friends”, he says. “When they come here they feel at home.”
With its simple décor, and a menu that includes plenty of fish dishes as well as meat and pasta, the restaurant already has plenty of loyal customers, despite the fact that it has only been open a few months.
Angelo says Sicilian food differs from Italian in that it is a little lighter and uses less meat and heavy sauces.
When I ask him what his favourite dish is, he replies: “Fresh tuna lightly grilled for two minutes or less and sprinkled with oregano, parsley, olive oil and garlic”.
I ask him if he can cook me one, and he immediately disappears into the kitchen while I tuck into my tasty starter of aubergine and peppers.
Less than ten minutes later he returns with a plate of freshly cooked tuna fish and salad. The fish was delicate and delicious, the salad crispy.
Angelo, whose wife Patricia is a waitress at the restaurant, came to London 21 years and worked as a chef manager for a number of companies before branching out on his own with a small restaurant in Charlotte Place called La Cantina.
He now owns just Vigata, which opened early this year in Liverpool Road, a stone’s throw from Chapel Market at the Angel.
He has cooked throughout his life, and ran a fish restaurant and pizzeria in Italy for 10 years.
“I Like to cook in an authentic way like my mother”, he said. “We do a lot of grilling because fish tastes better that way. I also make my own tiramisu and ice cream.”
Among the popular fish dishes on the menu are rolled swordfish with breadcrumbs, pan fried salmon with baby prawns, wine and cream sauce and pan fried cod with potatoes and tomato sauce.
When Angelo and his wife aren’t working they entertain friends at home.
And when they return to Sicily to visit his mother, who is 89: “She still cooks us pasta with tomatoes, peas and grilled meat. We tend to go in the winter as we find it too hot in the summer.”
Vigata seats about 60 people. It is open from noon until 3pm for lunch and 6pm to 11pm for dinner every day.
Angelo buys all ingredients fresh from the market, and the restaurant serves 15 Sicilian and Italian wines.
PETER GRUNER
Vigata
70-72 Liverpool Road, N1
020 7226 1475 |
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