Mennula…a gem of a restaurant
April 27th, 2012 | Author: Franco

Santino cooking in the Mennula kitchen
Mennula is a little gem of a restaurant, with a chef/owner who is as passionate about great, fresh, seasonal food as I am. Last week I paid Santino a visit with plenty of wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables my arm – I try and visit him at the very least at every change of season. What happened next is one of the many reasons what I do should not really be considered work – Santino and I went on to spend the next hour eating our way through the produce.
The unreal Marinda tomatoes which I carry around everywhere I go this year were dressed with some of his own fantastic extra virgin olive oil which he imports directly from Sicily (his real home), some sea salt and nothing else. To this we then decided to add his freshly made ricotta – made every day in the already small kitchen with fresh milk (on Fridays it is goat’s milk…) – and both agreed fresh pepper was needed. One of this year’s great spring vegetables is the Romana courgette, Santino grilled it and we tried it straight of the grill, then with olive oil and salt, and finally with the Marinda and ricotta. We finely sliced a stunning spiky artichoke from Albenga, a little bergamot juice, salt and olive oil, then fresh borage was lightly poached and served with ricotta, and flavourful Friggitelli peppers from southern Italy were quickly grilled and again dressed simply with olive oil and salt.
Santino’s butcher arrived with his delivery of thick veal chops and fortunately there was a little end piece; it rightly made its way onto the hot grill. After a bit of banter with the butcher who had no intention of trying raw tomatoes, Santino said I had to try the freshly made Sicilian Tarocco blush orange granita. Brilliant. As we went on discussing how he marinates the chops in herbs for several hours, we went back to the ricotta subject and logically onto the home made cassata. This cassata redefines the Sicilian dessert, the fresh ricotta is incredibly delicate and smooth with a wonderful sponge and yes, even the bloody candied fruit was made by Santino with the peel of the Tarocco oranges.
Few people cook like this these days, absolutely everything made by the kitchen, a kitchen which is so very small but incredibly full of passion. The cooking which happens at Mennula is immensely seasonal not by fad, but quite the oppsite, it drives the cooking rather than reacting to it. I can’t urge you enough to visit Santino and his little gem of a restaurant in the heart of Charlotte Street – he’s always there, where he wants to be, in the kitchen doing what he loves most.


Sicilian food is only as good as the ingredients that go into it.
Chef Santino

Mennula is the Sicilian word for almond; for centuries almonds have been an important part of Sicilian / Italian cuisine.

Chef patron Santino Busciglio and his business partner Joe Martorana are both from Cianciana in the Provence of Agrigento in Sicily, a city which has a month long festival celebrating the first blossoming almonds of the early spring, so choosing the name Mennula was really quite a simple one.
Mennula is a small caring establishment where our clients are so much more than just a table number. Sicilian hospitality is renowned all over the world and both Joe and Santino will keep it that way.
The cuisine at Mennula is modern Italian with a touch of Sicily, which means food is light and vibrant with distinctive Sicilian undertones.
Chef Santino is totally dedicated to only using the very best of fresh seasonal ingredients, which means that the menu is an evolving menu dictated by what is on the markets of London and Milan on the day, as well as a long list of ingredients which Joe Martorana imports from his own estate in Sicily such as cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, almonds, pistachio’s capers and olives
Mennula offers a small a’ la carte menu and a seasonal set menu as well as bespoke party and feasting menus for our small private room.
Mennula has also an extensive wine list which offers a fantastic choice from all of Italy with many gems from the Sicilian section chosen by Joe and Santino.

Mennula is located in Charlotte Street in the heart of London’s media district, just north of Soho square and within easy walking distance of Oxford Circus, Covent Garden and the theatre land.

The decor at Mennula has been designed to be modern, warm and welcoming with its comfortable deep aubergine seating, walnut floors and white Italian stucco walls.