If you’ve ever spent much time wandering around London’s West End, you might have noticed the pistachio green-fronted delis that have quietly become a go-to for those seeking a chic Italian lunch.
Now, Mancunians will be able to experience their much-loved pastas, aubergine balls and tiramisu (among many other things), when their first location outside the capital opens here later this month.
Lina Stores’ history is a storied one, dating back to 1944. Lina Crippa, who had emigrated from near Genoa, set up her shop on Brewer Street in Soho to sell authentic Italian produce to the immigrant community, as well as curious Londoners.
The love was mutual, and the shop became a staple of the community. More recently, head chef Masha Rener was brought on board, to ‘take the ingredients of Lina Stores, and make them into recipes’.
Rener started out in a family restaurant in Italy, and when she moved to London in 1999, she found herself seeking out the ingredients that reminded her of home in that very Brewer Street shop.
So when the opportunity to collaborate and create a menu with what Rener describes as ‘Italian culture’ at the heart of it, an iconic partnership was formed. Their first hybrid restaurant and deli opened in 2017.
The menu is a blend of ‘signature dishes and seasonal specials’, Rener explains. There are dishes that have been on the menu since the beginning, like the crowd-pleasing carbonara and the Sicilian polpette de melenzane – fried balls of slow-roasted aubergine, served with tomato sauce and basil.
Rener has a particular soft spot for the pici alla Norcina – a new addition to the menu – because it is from Umbria, like she is. Thick, al dente pasta noodles are served in a sauce of porcini mushroom and lamb sausage. It’s an indulgent, savoury wonder.
Elsewhere on the menu you’ll find burrata doused in extra virgin olive oil, huge squares of fresh ravioli with datterini tomato, taglioni al tartufo with pencil sharpener shavings of truffle and an egg yolk sauce.
There’s also a crispy-as-anything chicken Milanese, and a stand-out hispi cabbage dish with rich, deeply caramelised agrodolce – ‘sweet and sour’ – onions and capers.
Desert-wise, everything is simple, traditional, from a slab of tiramisu to a rum baba to a vast cannoli with chocolate and pistachio. Altogether, it makes for a crowd-pleasing lunch.
If you don’t have time to dine in and enjoy the ambience (and what an ambience it is – think soft pastel decor, dark wooden seating all lit by mid-century orbs and spacey chrome lamps) you can experience Lina Stores in express mode.
At their dedicated deli you can pick up groceries for later, as well as salads, sandwiches and sweet treats, as well as an ever-so-Italian espresso to go.
Located opposite Quay Street’s Opera House, we can imagine this will become the spot for pre-theatre dinner and drinks, or for long weekend lunches (or even short weekday ones, for the office-goers of Deansgate). Get ready to spot that distinctive pale green packaging all over the city centre.
To celebrate their deli soft launch, there’s 50% off fresh counter food and takeaway coffee Friday 11 – Wednesday 16 of April. Lina Stores will officially open on Thursday 17 April.
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