Forza Wine - Review - Peckham - London - The Infatuation
"Forza Wine is a rooftop restaurant and sleek hangout on Rye Lane, and where we go to romanticise traffic and trains. From this height, with a frozen grape daiquiri in hand, even the Thameslink chugging by below starts to look like the Orient Express. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Pause Unmute It's part bar and part restaurant, and the Italian-ish small plates fulfill their role perfectly—namely, sexy little snacks to pick at while giving your teeny tiny sunglasses their first outing. A plate of cauliflower fritti has ASMR-levels of crunch and the burrata with sweet pickled onions will restore your faith in the fallen it-girl, burrata. Any chic gossip session or cool date at Forza should draw to a close with the seasonally changing, smooth soft serve and/or a custardo (a creamy mash-up of custard and cortado). Although the melty Negroni sunset basically feels like a nudge and wink to order another glass of rosé. So good luck leaving when you said you would. Food Rundown Cauliflower Fritti & Aioli Big cauli boulders, leaves still attached, deep-fried with a crispy coating that makes us turn into a pantomime character insisting everyone falls quiet and “listen, listen” as we crunch. The aioli is thicker than some and all the better for it, clinging onto the cauliflower and adding a pleasing, creamy element. photo credit: Emily Hai Burrata, Agrodolce Onions, Mustard Dressing & Parmesan In 2023, the world collectively agreed that burrata was cancelled. Forza Wine isn’t one for passing trends and rehabilitates the now-maligned cheese with this dish. It’s so creamy that it oozes when cut, the scattering of breadcrumbs is a nice textural touch, and the agrodolce onions bring some sweetness. photo credit: Emily Hai Soft Serve Creamy and dinky, very Ronald McDonald-style. Which is a huge compliment. PlayMute video credit: Emily Hai Custardo A dessert for people who (eye-roll) ‘don’t do dessert’. The custardo is a shot of espresso topped with custard. It’s creamy, it's delicious, it’s affogato’s playful younger sibling. Frozen Grape Daiquiri This cocktail deserves dedicated words written about it. We hailed it our drink of the summer (and beyond) after one sip. It’s sweet, refreshing, and doesn’t slap you in the face with booze, which makes it a nice day-sipper. PlayMute video credit: Emily Hai" - Sinéad Cranna
