Ida At My Table

'Simonetta invites you to the table, with a menu of intimate stories and confidently unfussy recipes. This book is heartfelt and captivating' Yotam Ottolenghi 'A love letter to a mother-in-law and the food heritage of a closely bonded Italian family.' Mail on Sunday In 2007, Simonetta and her husband made the quixotic decision to open a restaurant. Without any relevant experience IT engineer Avi and novelist Simonetta put aside their careers to throw themselves (and their three young children) into their dream. This is the story of Ida, a tiny resilient restaurant situated on an unlovely arterial road between Kilburn and Kensal Rise, a barren thoroughfare with few shops and zero passing trade. A restaurant that survived (only just) the 2008 economic crash and the pandemic lockdown to become an internationally renowned haven of Italian home cooking. But this is much more than the rise, fall and phoenix-like resurrection of the unlikely restaurant. Avi and Simonetta’s vision was formed