A new place has opened on Kensal Rise by the same people behind Highgate's Ostuni (as well as the Chamberlayne pub in Kensal Rise), and it has the same focus on Puglian cuisine.
It's being pitched as an all-day café, deli, bombetteria and juice bar, so it should meet pretty much all your needs. Things kick off with breakfast and during the day there will be hot and cold salads, lasagne, pizza by the slice and street-food snacks prepared on the Italian charcoal grill. And that can all be washed down with something from the juice bar.
That grill will be the main event, serving up La Bombette Pugliese every evening. That will include classic Bombetta with fresh Capocollo of Puglian pork, thinly sliced, seasoned and wrapped around provolone cheese, skewered and roasted over charcoal. They'll also have Bombetta Panino - spicy mayo and rocket, along with cuts of steak, homemade pork and fennel sausages and seafood specials including grilled octopus with cracked wheat, polignano carrot and salted ricotta.
On top of that, there's a deli with Puglian produce to take home.
Messapica is open now at 109 Chamberlayne Road, London NW10 3NS.
