Fratelli Tavola Calda, Peterborough

04/09/2024 Laura

The thing I love about writing reviews; sometimes you are left really conflicted about the bottom line. This is how Fratelli Tavola Calda left me, when I happened past it on my way to the Peterborough Beer Festival. I fancied having a spot of lunch at a proper table before I hit the festival. Fratelli’s occupies the Rivergate Centre, a bizarre mall space in the city that has all the feel of an outdoor street but is actually covered. The frontage of the little Italian restaurant and deli accordingly has patio tables and a mobile ice cream counter on the frontage. What the point of choosing them versus the “interior” tables is, I don’t really know. Differently lit, I suppose?

But that’s not what confused me. What really got me wondering about my values was the conflict I feel between my overall opinion of the place – and the quality of the food. The serving staff were an absolute delight. Friendly, warm – the family you’ve never met. Just as you’d hope for from a family restaurant that has the feel of being relatively unchanged for a couple of generations. The decor is also so satisfying. It is incredibly “trad taverna” in feel. A cosy, cavern-like (yet well-lit) hodge-podge of a space with tables a little too close and endless knick-knacks crammed between. Right down to the Chianti bottles in their neat straw baskets hanging from the ceiling and red checked table cloths it is the Italian stereotype down to a tee.

Fratelli Special

Next to the restaurant space, there is a fabulous little Italian deli. This is really the true prize – I spotted lots of brands in there that I’m familiar with from Italian trips that are usually pretty hard to get hold of in this country. Well worth a browse if you want to bring a little lick of authenticity to your home country. Naturally, all this came together to hone my expectations for my lunch

I ordered the Fratelli special pizza, because – well – when in Rome, right? This “everything but the kitchen sink” pizza promised tomato, mozzarella, pepperoni, onions, peppers, asparagus, mushrooms and an egg. Honestly, if you say so! The food didn’t take too long to arrive, but the wait wasn’t so truncated that it made me suspicious about how the food was being prepared. When it arrived, the first thing I noticed was that there was no asparagus. I can’t say this was a massive surprise because it was August. And asparagus isn’t big in August. But why have a deeply seasonal ingredient that you can only deliver for maybe 2 months of the year on your house special?

Next up, I noticed the egg. Well, actually, I spent some time trying to identify the egg. I found it, camouflaged by the mozzarella, and was a little disappointed that it was thoroughly cooked. In my opinion, there’s no point having an egg on a pizza unless it’s nice and runny, baby! Not a great start, and I hadn’t tried anything yet. All the rest of the toppings transpired to be fine though – I particularly liked the punchy pepperoni which had a really excellent flavour. Not too hot, but it lifted the veggies really nicely. But the base. Ohhh, the base. Clearly freshly prepared, but biscuity and thick rather than having that traditional pillowy, yeasty smelling and slightly chewy texture crust that you hope for (see Osteria on the Shropshire GOAT for the dream example).

On reflection

In essence then, my food was deeply “not too bad” – usually enough for me to decide not to return for a repeat visit – but I loved the restaurant so much that I really think I am going to go back and give their pasta a go! And this is my conundrum. If you’re reviewing food, then the food must be good. Surely? But the lovely team, the genial surroundings… these were charming elements that I couldn’t ignore. Also I was a little bit taken by the scowling Italian elder who peered out at me from the kitchen. He gave the whole thing a very authentic feel of a family business. This review makes no sense. I don’t know if it will help you decide whether to visit or not. But I’ll be sure to tell you if I do get back for the pasta.