"Bar Italia is only closed for a few hours every day, but from 7am all the way until around 3am it caters to Soho’s every need. By 8am the iconic Italian cafe already has blokes—who arrived separately but are united in their desire to stare down passers-by—sitting on stools outside, smoking. Roll forward to 9am and the work crowd drifts in for hot, strong coffees, brusque service, and speedy, saucy chicken milanese paninis. The prices are low but know that the garlic clove count in the superb yet simple spaghetti aglio is high, and the zingy anchovy-topped marinara is one of the best, doughy ways to give yourself tomato sauce-associated heartburn in this city. By evening, jazz is swapped for Kisstory classics and if the football’s on, expect a throng passionately waving cannoli at the screen towards the back of the narrow, memorabilia-covered space. But night owls will know Bar Italia’s flickering neon sign and faded terrazzo tiles best as somewhere to seek refuge and creamy tiramisu at 2am every night of the week. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch" - Sinéad Cranna
