Nowadays, everyone and his nonna is pimping cicchetti; savoury bites served with your traditional ‘ombra’ (a glass of local vino bianco) in Venetian bàcari bars. High street pizza peddlars Zizzi tried it and now Piccolino in Heddon Street has jumped on the bandwagon with their new stand-alone basement cicchetti bar. God knows how many £4 arancini rice balls and £7.50 negronis they’ll need to shift before making a return on their outlay. For this flashy lounge feels less humble bàcaro, more Baccarat - as in poncey, pricey French crystal beloved of Arabic sultans of bling. Did its owners dine at Mayfair posho nosho, Cecconi’s, and post-post-prandial grappa, advise their designer ‘this’ll do nicely’? Marble-topped, mirrored Mussolini chic and bar stools toting enough pea green leather to keep a WAG in bags until Doomsday: the look seems strangely familiar. Shaken by Filippo, dapper in white tux, will £9 pear martini, served with fresh pear and Parma ham, be equally sharp? Sadly, no: cloyingly sweet, this one’s strictly for Haribo fans. Stick with Americano, Bellini, fine dry martini and top-notch Tuscan vino with your upmarket nibbles at this glitzy dame - think Nancy dell’ Olio via Ilkely and Clitheroe, two hotspots that host branches of this Made-in-Manchester Italianate chain. 21 Heddon Street 7287 4029 www.piccolinorestaurants.co.uk
