LARDO SERVES UP GREAT ITALIAN WITH NO SLABS OF FAT IN SIGHT! So it's a brave restaurant in this era of cholesterol-watching and calorie counting that calls itself Lardo. But this operation from Eliza Flanagan, former manager of the Hackney Bistrotheque restaurant, which opened just over a year ago, is in rapidly fashionable and increasingly foody parts on nearby Richmond Road. Here you can get away with it. Food knowledge is growing at the expense of faddishness in E8, and this well-researched outfit scores for authenticity of both cooking and a bustling atmosphere. The interior is all brick and wood floors, adding to the stripped back, focus on the essentials. I have to admit, that's something I love. But we were forced to eat outside because clearly other people do too! Every table was taken. But a sense of the goings-on inside wafted out as we tucked into our light supper, with not a chop, loin or the classic Italian Lardo cut – cured back fat with salt, pepper and spices – in sight. The focaccia was beautifully light and springy, with the unctuous olive oil giving the bread moisture and depth of flavour, and salt granules on top adding sharpness and clarity. Classic deep-fried courgette flowers had a surprisingly full covering of batter, but with a delicious crunch, and savouriness. Then finally a pizza from their own-built oven that takes up what looks like the entire kitchen! This was topped with gorgonzola, walnut and radicchio, packed with the sour and sweet of the cheese, the rich almost butteriness of the walnut, and the delicious, bitter radicchio leaves (£10.50). Thanks to Lardo for some of the pics, taken from their outstanding Flickr site. Have a look, and do go down and grab yourself a meal yourself – having booked first!