Review: Tozi at Battersea
Review: Tozi’s reimagined Italian classics
Written by Ben Berman
Ben Berman tried out TOZI’s pizzeria & cicchetti bar at Battersea Power Station
Stepping into Tozi Pizzeria and Cichetti Bar felt like stepping into a Fellini film, with the grandeur of its green interiors matched with bold tapestries. It’s unsurprising when you learn that the restaurant leads to the glamorous lobby of Art’otel.
TOZI has three outposts in London and one in Amsterdam, intending to serve an elevated take on classic Italian dishes.
As soon as we sat down, we were provided with a bottle of cold water to cool ourselves from the London heatwave – the attentive staff was a sign of good things to come.
We started by ordering cocktails. On their menu was a variety of house wines, cocktails – particularly Negronis, and a good range for non-drinkers. I ordered the Venetian spritz, a version of an Aperol spritz. Its blood orange taste puts you right on a beach shore on the Amalfi Coast. It was properly fizzy and kept cold as its ice sweated off the sides of the glass. My friend ordered an Elderflower Sbagliato, which mixed prosecco, Luxardo bitter, and elderflower, which could have benefited from more mixing. The fruity, iced cocktails were a delightful, honestly necessary, way to cool off from the heat! Our server suggested a Ruggeri Prosecco Brut to go with our meal.
While waiting on our appetizers, our server entertained us by teaching us how to quickly open a bottle of wine server-style. My friend struggled to open the bottle. Even after a few minutes and past our appetizers’ arrival, an additional server had to instruct us. We never got the hang of opening a wine bottle at a server’s speed.
The appetizers tasted as good as they looked. The focaccia was drizzled with olive oil and salt flakes. Bursts of rosemary littered the airy bread. We dipped greedily into a side of balsamic vinegar, which added a tart contrast. The calamari fritti satisfied my craving for a seafood dish. There was no paired sauce, but the freshly squeezed lemon juice rounded out the squid.
Our entrees were served steaming after a moment to settle from the appetizers. The first dish was the black truffle and fungi pizza. The fire oven’s heat baked the pizza crust into perfect crispy bubbles. A creamy mozzarella draped over the sauce like a blanket. The truffle marscapone sauce mixed with the mushrooms and black truffle shreds was a juicy combination. The lobster linguine brought forth a perfectly cooked lobster tail with the lobster shell topping off the dish, adding flair. But I would recommend the linguine dish only to big lovers of seafood, as the sauce is strongly flavoured.
TOZI’s dessert swept us off our feet. We anticipated we’d be full, and left little room for dessert. But we ate every last bite. We ordered the pistachio profiteroles, which were by far the most memorable dish. The profiteral’s donut texture had a solid crunchy layer, with dough that melted in your mouth. Pistachio ice cream was sandwiched inside the dessert, adding a cooling bite to the steamy donuts. We lastly got the tiramisu, which delivered a punchy coffee flavor. The whipped cream and ladyfingers added an airy texture to the Italian classic. The tiramisu was a bookend way to wrap up TOZI’s take on signature Italian classics.
