Conor Gadd spent fifteen years building Trullo into one of north London's most consistently excellent Italian restaurants. On 11 March he opened Burro, his first solo venture, in Covent Garden — taking over 2 Floral Court, the site previously occupied by Petersham Nurseries' city outpost, The Petersham.
The opening was preceded by a three-day soft launch from 6 to 8 March, with the full menu offered at 50% off — a rare move that gave the kitchen real service numbers before the full launch and generated a level of word-of-mouth that formal PR would struggle to match.
Trullo to Burro
Trullo on Highbury Corner opened in 2010 and became the kind of neighbourhood Italian that London has too few of: unpretentious, technically serious, consistent across the board. Gadd joined early and became co-owner and the driving force behind its kitchen. The restaurant has maintained a loyal following and a long wait for bookings for more than a decade without a single Michelin star, which has always felt more like a comment on the guide than the cooking.
Burro is a natural continuation, but it is also clearly its own thing.
The Restaurant
The design takes its cue from two seemingly incompatible references — "part Irish Country House kitchen, part Italian fifties Bistro" — which sounds unlikely on paper and reportedly lands well in practice. The room occupies a beautiful courtyard setting in Floral Court, one of the smarter recent additions to Covent Garden's restaurant stock.
The menu is regional Italian with rigour. Starters include fried artichoke with bottarga and chilli. Fresh pastas run to a Roman-style fettucine alfredo and tagliatelle with duck and porcini ragu. The heavier plates push further: Dover sole with caviar, and the dish that gives the restaurant its name — vitello al burro, veal with butter, a preparation that is as simple and as technically demanding as it sounds.
What It Means
Gadd is one of a handful of London chefs who built their reputation through sustained excellence at a single address rather than through expansion or media visibility. Burro is the first time he has bet on his own name beyond Trullo, and the early response — packed rooms from the soft launch onward — suggests the reputation has transferred cleanly.
Burro is at 2 Floral Court, Covent Garden, WC2E 9FB.