Chef Bruno Barbieri comes to London

The London restaurant scene has attracted quite a few international chefs eager to establish their credentials with what might be called “diffusion” restaurants that are branded with their name but run on a daily basis by a well-drilled associate. The most prominent examples include Alain Ducasse, with his three-Michelin-star establishment at the Dorchester; Daniel Boulud, with his brasserie at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel; and Wolfgang Puck, at Cut at 45 Park Lane. These chefs typically only visit their London outposts once a month or so.

More unusual is for a prominent multistarred chef to leave his own country and stake everything on a new venture elsewhere, which is what Italian chef Bruno Barbieri has done with Cotidie on Marylebone High Street in central London. “We want to be something like a small window for niche producers who want to have a presence out of Italy,” the 50-year-old chef says. “Our goal here is also to present traditional cuisine in a modern way. I want to be challenged, but it will take time as I don't not have a magic wand.”

Mr. Barbieri boasted two Michelin stars at both Trigabolo d'Argenta and Ristorante Arquade in Relais & Châteaux's Villa del Quar in his native Italy, where he is considered something of a personality, making regular appearances as a judge on the Italian version of “MasterChef.” His food is innovative without being experimental or avant-garde, but includes sophisticated touches that veer toward contemporary French cuisine, such as rooster stuffed with foie gras de canard or grilled Angus fillet with chard and Béarnaise sauce. Still, he is well-versed in classical Italian cuisine, with exquisite dishes such as tartare of Piemontese beef cured in spices, goat cheese and pistachio fondue, or pan-seared sea bass with mozzarella and aubergine cake.

The evening service of Cotidie (cotidierestaurant.com), which translates as everyday from the Latin, has been full since opening less than a month ago, with a preponderance of elegant Continental diners. “London is one of the few cities where if you have talent, you can succeed because it is an open city where people will judge you without blinkers on their eyes,” Mr. Barbieri says.

However, he says he has faced a few bumps so far, including a weaker-than-expected business-lunch crowd, mainly due to the slightly isolated location.

Sourcing the very best quality Italian ingredients, he says, has posed more of a problem: “I mistakenly thought that the culinary connections between London and Italy were deeper than they are. In fact, most of the ingredients I require are simply not here, or if they are, they are not of the level of quality that I was expecting.”

The complaint is a familiar one among leading Italian restaurants in London. The River Café, for example, flies in ingredients such as fresh mozzarella and has twice-weekly deliveries from a van that drives directly from the Milanese mercato ortofrutticolo, the city's wholesale market.

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