Nipotina isn't usually the kind of place you'd expect to stumble across a small contemporary art exhibition, but this winter the Mayfair Italian restaurant is blurring the lines between gallery and dining room. A new collaboration with Saatchi Yates brings a rotating art installation into the space, paired with a three-course set menu.
Rather than sectioning off the art in a dedicated room, the works are woven through the restaurant, sitting alongside clinking glasses and half-finished plates. The installation brings together paintings and sculptural works that feel loose and lived-in. Joanna Van Son and Rachel Zhang's paintings focus on movement and gesture, overlapping lines, tipped bowls and blurred figures. Nokukhanya Langa's sculptural pieces soften the room, while Omar El Lahbib's darker, nocturnal paintings add a slightly after-hours mood.
At the centre of it all is head chef Somaia Hammad's set menu, which draws on Italian flavours from Puglia through to Turin, with a clear emphasis on comfort and balance rather than reinvention. Dishes include burrata e carciofi with sautéed artichokes and mint oil, vitello tonnato topped with capers, and mafalde al ragù made with braised beef and veal. There's also polletto Nipotina – roasted baby chicken with olives, crispy garlic, and sage – which feels particularly well-suited to the colder weather.
Together, the collaboration positions Nipotina as more than just a place to eat. It's somewhere to spend time, slow down and take in your surroundings while someone else cooks for you.