Once a modest driveway at The Berkeley two years ago, this space transformed into The Garden, a culinary hot spot hosting pop-ups every season since opening. This summer, The Garden returns with a twist: La Dolce Vita: Il Giardino opens to the public for Italian dining.

Italian chef Antonio Pavone helms the kitchen, creating dishes celebrating Italian cooking and cuisine. Amidst flickering candles and twinkling lights, guests can indulge in delicious and carefully crafted meals. Welcomed first with warm focaccia and a list of Mediterranean wines, guests can then choose from small plates, including assorted bruschetta, arancini, burratini and fritto misto.

© Maybourne Hotel Group

Some of the star pasta dishes include cacio e pepe with rigatoncini and tagliolini with pesto made with pistachios from the Sicilian town of Bronte. Other main dishes feature roasted wild seabass, beef fillet carpaccio and Fiorentina steak. An array of vegetarian sides, such as sauteed cima di rape and lollo rossa, complement the main dishes.

No Italian meal is complete without dessert, and Il Giardino delivers with apricot crostata with amaretto ice cream and tiramisu served alongside cones of Amalfi lemon and peach gelato. Unique to this restaurant, a bespoke spritz trolley will make its way around the restaurant with a team close behind to mix cocktails tableside.

© Maybourne Hotel Group

With views of Hyde Park and other iconic landmarks of London, this alfresco restaurant sees fragrant herb plants and olive trees lining the space. Motifs of lemon, negroni and gelato blend into the restaurant’s Italian stripe and print fabrics. Italian ceramics, overflowing with lemons, also adorn the space, with candles in bold yellow blocks of wax adding color and warm lighting.