Today we bring you the fascinating story behind London's Best Rated Italian Restaurant 'Ida', as we're joined by owner Simonetta Wenkert. She's a writer by profession, who 20 years ago fell in love with the idea of having her own Italian restaurant and convinced her engineer husband Avi, to risk it all and open up their dream place in Queens Park. She takes us through the incredible challenges they've battled through from; criminal chefs they've employed, to the financial crisis which forced them to sell their house to keep the place alive, to getting ripped off by their corrupt property agents to almost having to close the business forever during Covid!However they've also had such wonderful times through; bringing their families recipes to life for the city to enjoy, becoming Prince Harry & Meghans favourite restaurant, serving U2 for a whole week straight, becoming the best rated Italian in London and much much more...---------Please make sure you leave us a rating and comment - it really helps other people find the podcast and allows us to continue to grow. Download The Appetite app now and track your fav spots or places that you're dying to check out and book them easily all through the app - download it now. https://shorturl.at/yFXyKBuy Simonetta's Incredible Book - Ida At My Table Here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1835011098 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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