Ave Mario

Ave Mario is Big Mamma's Covent Garden trattoria, an 80's-inspired reading of a Florentine palazzo that opened on Henrietta Street in July 2021 and has stayed one of the group's hardest tables since. Six-metre ceilings and black-and-white striped walls set the tone in the main dining room, where a central bar stacked with 3,500 bottles anchors the space; downstairs, a basement dining room wraps in mirrored squares that multiply the red velvet booths and globe lighting in every direction.

The kitchen, led by chef Gianluigi, works from Italian producers directly: wood-fired pizza, fresh pasta finished tableside in a wheel of pecorino, and a 35-day aged Fiorentina among the regulars. The 700 sqm space runs across three distinct rooms in total, the dining room, an indoor courtyard split into two hireable halves beneath hanging foliage and vintage travel posters, and the mirrored basement.

All three take private and semi-private hire, up to a full restaurant buyout of 200 covers, for birthdays, corporate gatherings and family-style group dining just off Leicester Square.