Langosteria Brings Milanese Magic and Well-Placed Noise to London

In 2007, Enrico Buonocore opened Langosteria on Milan’s Via Savona. It was an intimate, seafood-led restaurant with only 40 seats, focused on quality of ingredients rather than ostentatiousness. It was also a one-off—Buonocore never imagined the scale of the hospitality empire he has since built across Europe. And at the time, Buonocore was acting as host, server and sommelier.

“I remember the first guest I served,” he tells Observer. “I did the welcome, I served the food, I presented the bill. We had a very small team, only 13 people, so I did everything. When I started, I had the same rules I have now: no compromise in terms of quality and no compromise in terms of people. For me, people and quality are the keys of my success.”

Over the past two decades, Langosteria has grown immensely. Via Savona, located in the hip Tortona district, has expanded to encompass the neighboring spaces, creating a labyrinthine expanse of dining rooms, counter seating and a vast wine cellar. Buonocore has since opened three more Langosteria restaurants in Milan, including Langosteria Bistrot, down the street from Via Savona. Last fall, Langosteria Montenapoleone arrived in Palazzo Fendi alongside Pepe Barra Italiana and Ally’s Bar—a far more contemporary complex of eateries than those in Tortona. In recent years, Langosteria has even outgrown Milan. In the fall of 2021, Buonocore debuted an outpost in Paris’ Cheval Blanc hotel. There are three more seasonal locations in Paraggi, St. Moritz and Porto Cervo. 

Despite this dramatic evolution, which has been propelled by the fashion industry’s ongoing love for the brand, Buonocore is most enthusiastic about his most recent opening at the London hotel Raffles at the OWO, a multi-year project beset by challenges and delays. Discussions about joining Raffles started in 2022, and Buonocore signed the contract for the space, formerly used by Winston Churchill, the following year. 

“London is, for me, the most important city in Europe in terms of culture, energy and business,” Buonocore says. “The location of the restaurant is interesting because everyone told me to open in Mayfair. But Langosteria is a destination place, and the Raffles building is very British and has an incredible story. I didn’t think we needed to be like everyone else and be in Mayfair.” 

Buonocore was initially offered a different space in Raffles than the area where Langosteria London ultimately opened its doors on July 1. But he was adamant that the kitchen needed to be on the same floor as the dining room. “It is very important for me to have the direct service of the food by my chef on the same level of the guest,” he says. He prevailed, eventually taking over several rooms on the ground floor of the hotel opposite the Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant Mauro Colagreco. The restaurant has its own entrance off Whitehall, where doors open into a bar, two dining rooms seating a total of 110 diners, and a private dining room. 

It’s far more opulent than Via Savona. The historic ceilings, wood paneling and fireplaces have been kept intact, but Buonocore has brought a sense of liveliness into the rooms with the help of silk wall coverings emblazoned with colorful Langosteria characters and London icons. It’s sophisticated in terms of the service and menu, but even two weeks into opening, the restaurant is loud and boisterous—just as busy as the more modern location in Montenapoleone, Milan’s fashion district. But where Raffles at the OWO is austere, serious and oddly quiet, Langosteria London is refreshingly whimsical and noisy. 

“Langosteria creates energy,” Buonocore says. “It invites good people. It is a happy brand. And we are not a bling-bling restaurant. Our food is top quality. You remember what you eat, which means guests come back to us many times.” He grins. “We are bringing the fun into the hotel.” 

Buonocore doesn’t consider himself a restaurateur or an entrepreneur, even though he clearly has established himself as both. He grew up in Milan and began working in bars and restaurants in the city in his 20s. He always liked cooking, but didn’t fancy himself a chef, instead working behind the bar and in hospitality management. There was always an emphasis on quality food in his house, both as a child and as an adult. 

It’s a sensibility that has driven everything Buonocore does with Langosteria. There are around 10 different olive oils used in the kitchens, and they are reassessed every six months. Different restaurants serve different types of fish to ensure it’s as fresh as possible. Buonocore considers how long it will take for a particular product to arrive, whether it’s Brittany blue lobster in Paris or Scottish langoustines in London. 

“Maybe it’s fresh, but how long does it take to fly it there?” he says. “If clams take five or six days to arrive, then they are not local or fresh. And it’s not consistent. I will delay or change the dish if I don’t have the right product. There can’t be any compromise to the quality.”

Buonocore isn’t concerned that London has seen a dramatic influx of Italian restaurants over the past year, including Osteria Vibrato, Ornella and Sale e Pepe Mare, in a city already filled—even oversaturated—with the popular cuisine. “Langosteria is not only Italian,” he says. “Langosteria is Italian with an international attitude and a specialization in fish. We have a brand that’s very different to others in the market.” 

He likes River Café, which opened in Hammersmith in 1987, because the clientele is local and sophisticated. “It’s also very consistent food,” he says. “It’s not my style of décor because it’s too white, but the food is good. The people who go there are the people I want in my restaurant.” 

He adds of creating something that will last, “I don’t want to come to town to have a famous restaurant that is just some news. I want to establish my brand, establish my community and share our vision. Our restaurant is very different than what’s in the market now because we have our own touch.” 

Part of that touch is Buonocore’s insistence that pasta is a main course—a sentiment not shared by many Italian chefs. “For me, after pasta, basta,” he declares several times during lunch in May in Milan, where he is previewing some of the new dishes from London’s menu. These include risotto, which has never appeared in Langosteria before. Buonocore designed the London kitchen to include a dedicated risotto station, although the dish has yet to be made available (there’s a soft-launch menu until September). Guests can opt for salt-crusted sea bass or black grouper chateaubriand, but the meal will conclude with a variation of seafood pasta. 

Buonocore also repeatedly asserts that Italian cuisine doesn’t have to be heavy. You can finish with pasta, but still feel like it was light thanks to fresh ingredients, he says. Seafood and vegetables drive Langosteria’s offering (although, so does the more indulgent tiramisu). Buonocore believes that most people go home after a meal there and do not go right to sleep. “I help couples have sex,” he says proudly.

Part of the appeal of Langosteria is its strong branding and sense of identity. The charming, cartoonish characters appear on the walls, napkins and even the pins guests are offered as souvenirs. The stylish orange hue that augments the plates is the brand’s own Pantone color. It’s reminiscent of Hermès orange, but intended to evoke the restaurant’s namesake crustacean: a langoustine, which has a bright orange shell. This eye for detail is perhaps why the fashion set is so obsessed. Langosteria has collaborated with Dior, Fendi, Moncler and Acqua di Parma, and editors and designers frequent the restaurants during Fashion Week. 

Buonocore believes that opening in the right location is what brings in the right people. He’s refused “many” proposals for an outpost in the Middle East because it’s not his intended market. “I want to build the most important brand in the world,” he says. “But it has to be very elegant and in an international location. I opened seven restaurants in 20 years. Now I plan to open five or six restaurants in five years. Because now we are ready.”

This long-term strategy includes a plan for a restaurant in Madrid and another in Italy. But Buonocore’s vision extends beyond Europe. Exactly where, he won’t say. “Of course, the natural growing of our brand after Europe is to move to the U.S.,” he confirms. “It would be a star city, like New York, Miami, L.A., the Hamptons, Aspen, maybe Boston.”

Like each expansion, Langosteria London is its own proposition. Buonocore says one of the dining rooms used to be Churchill’s office, which is part of why the renovation was so difficult. There are luxurious elements of Italy—Murano glass, Verde Alpi marble, the silk wallpaper—but the history of the 1906 building, once the Old War Office, remains. Everything is precise and thoughtful, but the vibe is loose. Buonocore says he operates by his own book of rules. “It’s a natural vision,” he says. “And this isn’t only [my] vision, but the vision of the entire company.” 

The restaurant’s arrival during Wimbledon is no accident, nor is the plan to open slowly. Langosteria London will remain in a soft launch until September to ensure it’s ready. The opening menu is smaller than the eventual offering, and Buonocore says he wants to immerse himself slowly into the city rather than with a big splash. 

“Right now, we are being quiet,” he says. “After two years in construction, we are ready to start to welcome people and we have an incredible team ready. I’m a competitive man, really competitive, and I’m happy to start having a competition with all the brands in town.”

Buonocore knows the power of the brand he’s created. He also knows people will be curious to experience it in a new city. But with Langosteria, he’s playing a long game. “I don’t want success in a few weeks or a few months, but long-term,” he says. “We have arrived, and we are going to bring the fun to London.”