The House of Peroni: Art, Design & Lobster Croissants

You may recall us having shared our House of Peroni trips previously here, here and here to be exact - we're a tad obsessed! So, we were thrilled when we heard the next instalment was set to take place throughout May in Holborn by Lincoln's Inn Fields. 

The House of Peroni celebrates the very best of contemporary Italian style and culture - from art and fashion to design and creativity. It's inspired by the spirit of 1963, a transformative year when Italian style became renowned across the world and the year that Carlo Peroni created Peroni Nastro Azzurro.

I was mesmerised as soon as I stepped inside - full to the brim with design work that takes over entire rooms including an optical illusion wallpaper room and a fancy pom pom covered ceiling - super fab...

We wandered four-floors on our way up to the top floor where our exciting invitation awaited ... a Supper Club brunch! So, some background of why and how this Italian-inspired brunch came about. The House of Peroni approached two Italian guys - Silvio and Toto - to re-create their Nonna's Italian Sunday lunch. How lovely! Both men were spoilt as boys with gorgeous traditional Italian homemade comfort food - every Sunday they would visit their grandmother who would serve up her culinary delights. 

With this front of mind, Silvio and Toto took their Nonna's recipes and modernised them to work for The House. We were invited to join the family last Saturday at 12 0'clock sharp!

We got things off to a superb start with THE Mary of all Bloody Marys. This glass of utter heaven was made from the family's delicately spiced tomato Passata recipe, poured over a classic vodka base. The Mary also strangely included garlic, carrots and onion all of which has been slowly cooked for 4 hours with Italian tomatoes. Poured into an icy cold glass topped off with basil, a cherry tom and a wedge of Parmesan! Mini mouse said she felt like she was drinking spag boll (!!!) but I personally loved every gulp!

Alice and Kitty posing for the camera before the feast commenced...

Busy happily sipping away on our Marys, the first few dishes were placed under our noses - an antipasti round!

My absolute favourite of the whole menu - the lobster croissant! A lavish twist on the ordinary breakfast croissant that's for sure… inspired by Nonna's favourite after-mass snack, the Brichoe Salata. The traditional ham filing was tossed aside and swapped for fresh lobster with a delish lemon butter cream and chive flowers. So pretty and so tasty, I never want to eat a plain croissant again as long as I live - it's lobster all the way now… 

We were also treated to bite sized fried chicken pieces marinated in buttermilk and then breaded. This was topped off with a helping of Bloody Mary ketchup - perfection! 

Last but not least - asparagus and potato salad. It sounds dull in comparison to the above but believe me when I say it wasn't in the least. Summery and light and the asparagus was some of the best i've ever tasted...

Next up, I suppose you could call this the main brunch course. We had a choice between two options…

We took a couple of the Uova al Tegamino AKA fried eggs with cheese and a slice of salami. Nonna used to give the two boys this as an afternoon snack - a pretty heavy snack if you ask me and if i'm honest our least favourite on the menu but still very tasty… 

We then ordered just one of the Cassoela to go - served up in a takeout box - pure comfort food, traditionally served during winter months so again quite substantial and filling but wildly yummy! In short we were served up pork stew tucked up in fluffy Focaccia bread with pickled red cabbage and homemade BBQ sauce... nom nom!

It wasn't over just yet though - one final course to well and truly push us over the edge - Dolce! Silvio himself served us and he had told us when we were first seated that his grandmother was a dab hand when it came to dessert, so we had left just enough room to taste-test her inspired creations. 

Bombolone, Sicilian cannolo with a coffee cream, Pastiera tart and a cup of steaming coffee to wake us up out of our food coma… 

WOW-oh-WOW - seriously. Too much. Too good. Utter heaven!!!

The end - at last! Out we rolled, practically bursting at the seams but happy as larry after a feast fit for a king - here's photo evidence to prove it with a truck load of breathing in going on after gobbling a month's worth of food...!

Normal people would now take the opportunity to head home and have a lie down before the fun and frolics of Saturday night commenced BUT oh no we decide a bottle of champers at the Savoy sounded like a cracker of an idea so off we went to end our day on an indulgent high and start the evening off with a 'pop'...