Three-course sharing menu from £38.50, homemade pasta and house vermouth bring Italian festive spirit to the heart of Soho
Gather your favourite people and head downstairs: Christmas at Mele e Pere means generous Italian feasting, Negronis at the copper bar and plenty of reasons to linger. Launching on 16 November, the independent Soho trattoria’s festive menus start at £38.50 per person, bringing a taste of Italian Christmas hospitality to Brewer Street.
From office Christmas lunches to long-overdue get-togethers, its stylish 100-cover downstairs dining room and vermouth bar provide a welcoming setting for celebrations. Open throughout the festive season, closing only on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, Mele e Pere is ready for everything from leisurely lunches to festive evenings with friends, offering generous portions and the lively spirit of Soho.
Three ways to celebrate
At the heart of this year’s offering is La Festa (£38.50 per person and no pre-order), a generous three-course sharing feast for the whole table. Available for groups of six or more, with no pre-ordering required, it takes the organising out of the occasion. Gather your guests, settle in and let the kitchen take care of the rest.
For those who love the trattoria’s signature dishes, La Tavolata (£42.50 per person) offers a classic three-course menu featuring favourites such as pork and fennel polpettine with San Marzano tomato sauce and pecorino, tagliatelle alla Bolognese, and Nonna Mantovani’s tiramisu.
For an extra helping of festive indulgence, Il Banchetto (£55.50 per person) features dishes including cured salmon with capers, shallots and dill dressing; turkey with smoked pancetta, roast potatoes and cavolo nero; and panettone bread and butter pudding with vanilla gelato.
Start the festivities at the copper bar
Every good celebration deserves an aperitivo. Mele e Pere’s striking copper bar is home to an extensive vermouth collection, bringing together established names, discoveries from smaller producers and the restaurant’s own house red vermouth.
Begin with a signature Mele e Pere Negroni, renowned for being dangerously good, made with its own vermouth, or a classic Bellini. Alcohol-free options include Loose Lips, combining Crossip Macerated Berry with Chinotto.
Long before vermouth became a fashionable fixture on London drinks lists, it was central to Mele e Pere’s identity. That enthusiasm continues through its cocktails and hands-on vermouth classes, with forthcoming dates announced on the restaurant’s social channels.
Italian cooking, Soho spirit
Founded by brothers Peter and Chris Hughes, born in Milan to British parents, alongside Verona-born chef Andrea Mantovani, Mele e Pere opened in early 2012. The trio met while working at Michelin-starred Wild Honey in Mayfair and shared a simple ambition: to create a neighbourhood restaurant built around great Italian food, good drinks and warm hospitality.
Its name translates as “apples and pears”, a playful nod to the Cockney rhyming slang for stairs – and the vintage tiled staircase that leads guests into the dining room below.
In the kitchen, pasta is made fresh in-house every day, pizza dough is slow-proved for more than 48 hours, and seasonal ingredients underpin a menu rooted in Italian tradition. Alongside favourite pasta dishes, the restaurant’s 1.2kg T-bone alla Fiorentina and Nonna Mantovani’s tiramisu have become enduring signatures.
For a festive lunch or a bite before a West End show, the Lunch & Pre-Theatre Menu offers two courses for £19.50 per person, adding another reason to make a Soho stop.
Ahead of its fifteenth anniversary in 2027, Mele e Pere is celebrating Christmas with the same generous spirit that has kept guests returning since its opening: a warm welcome, a well-made drink and good food to share.
Mele e Pere
Address: 46 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1F 9TF
Reservations: 020 7096 2096, Open 7 days a week
@meleeperesoho
