1. A new chef at Truffles
Expect superior home-made pastas such as tagliatelle with zingy salsa verde, salads (on our visit panzanella, griddled courgettes and cavolo nero) and good-value double buffalo mozzarella pizzas on Fridays, at just £6.50, to eat in or take out.
And the shop is open on Friday and Saturday evenings as a laidback bar: try the superior Primitivo red, local craft beer, and (of course) a negroni.
Open until 10pm, 33 York Rise NW5, more info on their spruced-up website here. Follow @truffles_deli
2. Checked out the new Dartmouth Arms yet?
It’s all thanks to Andy Bird, an established pub and bar operator, most respected for saving lovely community pub the Chesham Arms in Hackney (one of our preferred pit stops, should we find ourselves that way).
If you’re expecting a sympathetic paring back to its original features and a lightly restored Victorian bar, then you’ll be surprised: the layout has been entirely rethought (after the previous owners reportedly sold the lot and left it an empty shell), with a long bar running up one side and the back room opened up.
There’s a good choice of ale and north London craft beer, including Tottenham’s Beavertown and Islington’s Hammerton, and a palpable sense of relief amongst local dads whooping it up on our recent visits.
Better still, as the kitchen isn’t installed until early July, every Friday evening from 6pm (until 30th June), Truffles is supplying this revamped Dartmouth Park watering hole with pizza to soak up the pints of real ale. There’s also a new weekly BBQ, which launched last Friday, and offers the likes of tandoori chicken with salsa and slaw for a tenner.
Open daily until 11pm, 37 York Rise NW5. Follow @dartmoutharms
