A Feast for Friends: Nipotina’s First Birthday Is a Celebration of Food, Storytelling and Style

Lifestyle

There are restaurants that feed you, and then there are restaurants that fold you into a story. Nipotina, tucked into one of Mayfair’s most elegant corners, manages both with effortless charm. A stone’s throw from Number 34 Mayfair and surrounded by some of the city’s most aspirational fashion maisons and galleries, the restaurant has carved out its place in one of London’s most competitive neighbourhoods. And this month, it marked a milestone: its first anniversary.

To celebrate, Nipotina unveiled a limited-edition Feast for Friends, a week-long menu crafted in collaboration with London chef and author Nina Parker. The timing couldn’t be better. As the city shifts toward the festive season, the restaurant offered something intimate and familiar: a four-course meal designed to be shared, savoured and remembered.

The evening felt less like a launch and more like the kind of long, indulgent dinner you hope never ends. Conversation ricocheted between aesthetics and fashion, life updates and travel notes, all carried by the kind of warmth that only arrives when people gather over exceptional food. And exceptional it was.

Turin: The Heartbeat Behind the Menu

At the centre of the Feast for Friends was a story that felt essential to the meal itself. Head Chef Somaia Hammad, born in Turin, worked alongside Nina Parker to create a menu rooted in memories, craftsmanship and heritage. Turin is the capital of Piedmont in northern Italy, a city that carries its own quiet magic.

It is also home to one of Italy’s most romantic tales. King Victor Emmanuel I of Savoy, determined to walk through his beloved city without ever needing an umbrella, ordered the construction of grand porticoes connecting the Royal Palace to the Po River. These arcades, still standing today around Piazza Castello and Piazza San Carlo, allow residents and visitors to wander for miles under sculpted arches, shielded from rain and snow. It is one of Italy’s most elegant expressions of design serving life, and it remains one of my favourite stories tied to one of my favourite cities.

This sense of romance, architecture and continuity translated beautifully into the menu. It was food with a story, and every dish felt touched by that Turinese instinct for elegance.

The Four-Course Celebration

The meal opened with fresh lasagna, light yet comforting, layered with the kind of precision that speaks to a kitchen with genuine respect for tradition. The braised cod arrived next, silky and delicate, paired with polenta that had been coaxed into perfection. But it was the finale that captured the room: a Gianduja tiramisu, created by Chef Somaia and Nina together, a love letter to Turin, the birthplace of Gianduja itself. Served in a teacup, it was rich, velvety and unapologetically indulgent; the kind of dessert that silences a table.

Nipotina’s interiors matched the energy of the evening. Warm lighting, elegant touches and the unmistakable hum of Mayfair formed the backdrop to moments of laughter, stolen glances at neighbouring tables and the shared joy of discovering a menu designed to be enjoyed together. Meals like this remind you of how dining should feel: communal, celebratory and anchored by great storytelling.

Nina Parker: The Perfect Collaborator

Partnering with Nina Parker was a clever move for Nipotina’s anniversary. A chef and food writer whose work spans global flavours and luxury collaborations, Nina has authored three celebrated cookbooks and has received national attention in The Sunday Times Style, The Evening Standard and beyond. Her Saucy range of vegan-friendly, gluten-free chilli oils is crafted in small batches and stocked by some of Britain’s chicest delis.

Despite Nina having a client list that reads like a fashion week front row, from Donatella Versace to Stormzy, she is the most welcoming and down-to-earth host one could meet. It's no wonder that her recipes have found their way into Vogue, Condé Nast Traveller and Tatler, where she serves as a food and travel columnist. She knows how to translate style into flavour, and her influence on the Nipotina collaboration was palpable.

A Celebration Worth Marking

A Feast for Friends was more than a menu; it was a reminder of how life and laughter return to the dinner table when food is approached with care and a little chic flair. In its first year, Nipotina has quietly built a community, introducing heartfelt Italian cooking to one of London’s most polished districts and creating a space where food, fashion and friendship meet with effortless ease.

The anniversary menu, available 10 to 17 November, captured everything Nipotina has come to represent: authenticity, creativity and the kind of Italian hospitality that feels warm even in the most glamorous of settings.

The meal unfolded exactly as meals among friends should: laughter rising between courses, conversations looping from fashion to life to the small absurdities of the week, each dish anchoring us a little more deeply in the joy of simply being together.

Nipotina has a way of pulling people closer, and our table was living proof, with friends swapping stories, numbers, debating aesthetics and sharing the kind of honest, meandering conversation that only happens over a really good meal. It is a restaurant that knows its roots, understands its neighbourhood and embraces its role as a gathering place. A year in, Nipotina feels less like a newcomer and more like a Mayfair staple in the making.

For more information visit, HERE

Nipotina

Address: 49 S Audley St, London W1K 2QD

Phone: 020 3893 8000

Images courtesy of Nipotina

Words by Jheanelle Feanny