Burro e Salvia closed down

[Silvia78]

I am Italian and hate seeing genuine Italian places not doing well in the area but I went in when they had just opened and they were rude (I spoke to them in Italian so thought we could find some common ground there as I usually find...but no..), very unaccommodating and straight up snooty. I said at the time 'mark my words they won't last' and they didn't. As someone said in a comment up here, they didn't realise the market requirements and the different clientele from Shoreditch. They failed to win local customers who would have become advocates for them. Also, extortionate prices for a plate of pasta. They thought they could fool the ED people, they got burnt.

[tfwsoll]

I found their customer care skills lacking when they first opened but over time the staff became really friendly and helpful. They weren't cheap but I loved the quality of their pasta. I am really missing them so maybe those people who are saying they were overpriced can tell me where I can buy decent fresh pasta locally now?

[Mick Mac]

tfwsoll Wrote:

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> I found their customer care skills lacking when

> they first opened but over time the staff became

> really friendly and helpful. They weren't cheap

> but I loved the quality of their pasta. I am

> really missing them so maybe those people who are

> saying they were overpriced can tell me where I

> can buy decent fresh pasta locally now?

At the end of the day, market forces. Not enough people like you to keep it going i'm afraid. sorry you have lost something you relied upon but that's just how it is innit. There doesn't have to be an available alternative.

[Sue]

tfwsoll Wrote:

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I am

> really missing them so maybe those people who are

> saying they were overpriced can tell me where I

> can buy decent fresh pasta locally now?

No idea what it's like as I have never bought any, but there is a stall selling fresh pasta in North Cross Road on Saturdays.

ETA: No idea if it's there every week, but I think it is.

[DulwichFox]

So what did people do for Fresh Pasta before Burro e Salvia opened. ?

Oddly enough on a recent James Martin program a Top Chef from a Prodigious Italian London Restaurant

explained how all their 'Fresh' Pasta was left to Dry over night and was Always made the day before.

If you do not have the facilities to dry your Pasta correctly, the best alternative is to buy fresh pasta

from your nearest Supermarket.

[tfwsoll]

I'll check out the North Cross Road stall - thanks for the recommendation. I do understand that if there isn't a market for a product then a business isn't likely to survive. My point is that people were saying Burro and Salvo was overpriced, which would imply that they were comparing it with an equivalent product. The stuff they sell in supermarkets isn't fresh and I find it tasteless so I'll go back to dried pasta. In a world in which people are increasingly relying on food banks I count myself lucky that I could treat myself.

PS DulwichFox freshly made pasta needs to dry out for an hour or so before cooking otherwise it will turn to mush.

[jimbo1964]

It's pretty easy and fun to make.

I'm looking forward to the fish restaurant.

[edcam]

Well in Italy they make it themselves if they want it fresh. It's second nature to them, as is cooking in general. One of the reasons why it's the best food in the world.

You obviously haven't had the right tagliatelle if you don't think fresh is best.

DulwichLondoner Wrote:

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> If you have ever been to Italy, you will have

> noticed that Italian high streets are not exactly

> filled with home-made pasta shops. There may be

> some, but more typically you can find home-made

> pasta in stores that also sell other stuff. Also,

> home-made fusilli or tagliatelle are IMHO good,

> but not exactly on an entire different planet vs

> their cheaper, not home-made counterparts. The

> real difference is with ravioli or other pasta

> filled with fresh ingredients; for example, the

> ravioli filled with fish that I tried at Burro and

> Salvia reminded me of what I ate at a classy

> Italian wedding. But that's expensive stuff, which

> you don't exactly eat every day, so it's hard to

> achieve the kind of footfall that would justify

> the cost of a shop on the Lordship Lane high

> street.

[DulwichLondoner]

Ha ha, I happen to be Italian, so I believe I know what I'm talking about. Didn't say there's no difference, but that the difference is not such to justify the presence of a home made pasta shop (of which there are very very very few on Italian high streets). Also, we don't all make fresh pasta in our kitchens.

Maybe they should have marketed it as a restaurant which also does fresh pasta rather than as a fresh pasta shop which was also a restaurant...

[jimbo1964]

Just to pull them apart a bit more.. They didn't have many tables. Moxon's have probably struck lucky as B&S did quite a nice job of fitting it out.