Tucked away on Columbia Road’s easternmost corner is Tiella Trattoria, the area’s latest Italian offering. Its exterior is unassuming – save for the stained-glass window on the door – and conceals myriad treasures within.
The restaurant was formerly the zippy Anther, with its fake plants and amazing cha siu omelettes. Before that, a pizza place, and originally a family‑run pub, The Globe.
The new establishment’s chef – soon‑to‑be cookbook writer and founder Dara Klein – has a packed resume including Rubedo, Brawn and Sager + Wilde. Tiella had a two‑year stint at The Compton Arms, and has now settled in her own brick‑and‑mortar venue. Such pretty bricks too, I coo.
As our candlestick’s tarnished silver reflects the dancing light, cool, casual diners lean in to whisper sweet nothings over steaming plates. The original wooden skirting and panelling reaches the height of the bar and give the place an almost alpine feel, a clever move for an admittedly hodgepodge floorplan. An entrance corridor flanks the bar and family photos of Klein and the team break up the expanse of terracotta, along with well‑chosen bric‑a‑brac.
Klein mines her Italian‑American heritage for inspiration behind her food. Born in Emilia‑Romagna, she grew up in her parents’ trattoria, Maria Pia’s, in Wellington. Her grandmother ran a pastificio (pasta shop) in Salento, which inspired Tiella’s logo, and her great‑grandfather was a greengrocer. To say it’s in the blood would be putting it mildly.
The chef – who founded the eatery with childhood friend and restaurateur Ry Jessup – equally works with like-minded suppliers, like La Sovrana and Rushton’s in New Covent Garden Market where she gets seasonal Italian vegetables. A husband‑and‑wife team in Sardinia craft the restaurant’s dried pasta. All this careful combination is what sets homestyle “casarecce” apart from your run‑of‑the‑mill Italian.
Blending tradition and diaspora proves there is yet more to learn and love about Italian cuisine. Especially as the nights grow cold and close, Tiella knows what we all need: that ever‑elusive comfort.
But first, cocktails. No‑ and low‑alcohol options are covered and everything has a zero-proof twin. The water and wine glasses are filled with skewered olives and generous garnishes. Our no/ne-gronis and pa‑no‑mas catch the light like Victorian streetlamps through fog.
The menu consists of sixteen dishes including desserts which change seasonally. We had just missed pumpkin season, we were informed (I hold back tears) but had landed straight into artichoke time.
For the vegans, heart of Jerusalem is complemented by the crunch of cooked peanuts. A taleggio fonduta sauce has light cheese and mustard notes, drizzled over purple, tender radicchio.
The beef tartare is beginner-friendly - rough‑cut, hefty and light on the mustard. Curls of Parmigiano Reggiano pair with the soft flesh fabulously, all served with a sheet of pane carasau – a traditional, ultra‑thin and crispy Sardinian flatbread. Anchovies, forno bread and olive oil or ricotta di romagna round out the dish.
Then, it’s onto the pasta-based primi course. We try the passatelli in brodo, and the broth is powerful enough to toast the hypothermia out of your very bones. Neither me nor my dining companion are pasta lovers, so it wasn’t our favourite course, but carb enthusiasts will enjoy the e fagioli or trie with cime di rapa.
The secondi is where we become excited. Braised lentils with mozzarella (and more artichokes!) provide some of the comfort we’re desperately searching for. The sizable Chicken Milanese is a house favourite, topped with chopped apple, fennel and celery.
Maria Pia’s polpette (meatballs) are larger than expected and blend three meats, served with a rich maroon sauce and slab of sourdough. There are only three, and they are so gorgeous we want more -–plus, this means they come in at £8 per ball.
We order two desserts – a bay leaf panna cotta and torta caprese – which contrast wonderfully and are a perfect demonstration of the confidence of the cooking. Flashy and performative are not the rules of the day here; instead it is interesting in its authenticity, ingredients working in tandem with age‑old knowledge.
The panna cotta wobbles just as expected, with campari‑pickled rhubarb shoots cutting through the creamy sweetness. The torta is a delicate chocolate cake with a hazelnut backstory. Amarena cherries clustered around the base deliver a payload of fresh, almost savoury tartness.
Tiella Trattoria expertly weaves old and new, authenticity and novelty, pulled together with high-quality, unfussy ingredients. What more can you ask of a restaurant?
Tiella Trattoria & Bar. 109 Columbia Road, E2 7RL
https://www.tiella.co.uk/
