Once upon a time, long before Carluccio's existed, going 'up West' for the day with my mum meant refueling at Ponti's, mid-shop, with a frothy coffee and a slice of Madeira. Even then, to my eleven-year-old-ish sensibilities, the Italian café chain managed to feel both vaguely exotic and stuck in the Fifties.

So I was mildly intrigued to hear that two of the branches had been upgraded to 'Ponti's Italian Kitchen', complete with posh table service and trendy bare brickwork. For old times' sake, I'd love to say it was a make-over worth making but, as I discovered last week, at best the place has moved into the Sixties, with trad favourites like calamari and lasagna… which is fine if you're a 'food as fuel' kind of person but I can't help feeling they could have done better - although the service from the smiling waiters was faultless.