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Langosteria Brings Milanese Magic and Well-Placed Noise to London

Enrico Buonocore’s fashion-favorite seafood brand has arrived at Raffles at the OWO, bringing Italian precision, serious langoustines and a welcome jolt of energy to Whitehall.

In 2007, Enrico Buonocore opened Langosteria on Milan’s Via Savona. It was an intimate, seafood-led restaurant with only 40 seats, focused on quality of ingredients rather than ostentatiousness. It was also a one-off—Buonocore never imagined the scale of the hospitality empire he has since built across Europe. And at the time, Buonocore was acting as host, server and sommelier.

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“I remember the first guest I served,” he tells Observer. “I did the welcome, I served the food, I presented the bill. We had a very small team, only 13 people, so I did everything. When I started, I had the same rules I have now: no compromise in terms of quality and no compromise in terms of people. For me, people and quality are the keys of my success.”

Over the past two decades, Langosteria has grown immensely. Via Savona, located in the hip Tortona district, has expanded to encompass the neighboring spaces, creating a labyrinthine expanse of dining rooms, counter seating and a vast wine cellar. Buonocore has since opened three more Langosteria restaurants in Milan, including Langosteria Bistrot, down the street from Via Savona. Last fall, Langosteria Montenapoleone arrived in Palazzo Fendi alongside Pepe Barra Italiana and Ally’s Bar—a far more contemporary complex of eateries than those in Tortona. In recent years, Langosteria has even outgrown Milan. In the fall of 2021, Buonocore debuted an outpost in Paris’ Cheval Blanc hotel. There are three more seasonal locations in Paraggi, St. Moritz and Porto Cervo. 

Despite this dramatic evolution, which has been propelled by the fashion industry’s ongoing love for the brand, Buonocore is most enthusiastic about his most recent opening at the London hotel Raffles at the OWO, a multi-year project beset by challenges and delays. Discussions about joining Raffles started in 2022, and Buonocore signed the contract for the space, formerly used by Winston Churchill, the following year. 

“London is, for me, the most important city in Europe in terms of culture, energy and business,” Buonocore says. “The location of the........

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