Bancone, the beloved London fresh pasta chain, is expanding with a sixth location inside the brutalist Imperial Hotel on Russell Square in Bloomsbury. The new restaurant, set to open in August, will feature a 140-cover dining room with an open pasta kitchen and a 60-seat al fresco terrace, marking Bancone's first hotel-based outpost.
Michelin-Grade Pasta at Affordable Prices
Bancone first opened in Covent Garden in 2018 and has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand award for affordable cuisine for seven consecutive years. The group has since expanded to Westminster's Golden Square, Borough Yards, Kensington High Street, and Bank. The new Bloomsbury location continues the chain's tradition of offering handmade pasta at accessible prices.
A Terrace for Summer Dining
The 60-cover terrace will allow diners to enjoy Bancone's pasta outdoors during the summer months. The Imperial Hotel itself is undergoing a 'once in a generation' renovation, which also includes a new rooftop bar and restaurant called Arcus. The hotel, designed by Charles Lovett Gill in the 1960s, is a celebrated example of brutalist architecture and has hosted notable guests including Barbara Windsor and Margaret Thatcher.
Signature Dishes and New Offerings
Bancone's menu will feature its signature dishes, such as spicy pork and nduja ragu, bucatini cacio e pepe, and the popular silk handkerchiefs with walnut butter and confit egg yolk. Diners can now add crispy guanciale to the handkerchiefs or try the Herdwick hogget pappardelle with soy, Thai basil, and chilli. The bar will serve Italian aperitivos, including the Aperitivo Bancone made with peach and prosecco, and house negronis like the floral Orange Blossom variation.
Bancone Bloomsbury opens in early August at 61–66 Russell Square, WC1B 5BB.
