Photography by Keiko Oikawa
Cinzia Ghignoni is a rare breed of chef, impassioned about real slow food and driven by the flavours and textures of what’s fresh and in season. Few restaurants however much they advertise using local produce, actually let the food do the talking – purchasing to restock the fridges for that month’s menu rather than buying what is at its best on the market and then writing the menu to suit.
Sadly Cinzia doesn’t have the pleasures of her native Italy, where it is the norm to wander around the stalls of local growers, snapping up the dew fresh harvest. Sadly in England chefs have to rely on daily deliveries from high quality suppliers, and though a struggle in their two years here, Cinzia has developed some good friendships ensuring she gets the cream of the crop.
Food is her life, brought up alongside her parents’ Milanese salumeria (delicatessen grocers), she first came to London two decades ago. Initially she worked at Villandry, the famous foodstore-bakers-restaurant, learning pastry from the experts and subsequently cooked for a number of years at La Fromagerie, the world renowned cheese shops in London, complete with traiteur counters and deli-café, beloved of Jamie Oliver amongst others.
Seeing the opportunity to bring something similar to Suffolk and finding the shell of an old coal merchants building in the quieter town streets of Sudbury near Waitrose and the train station, Cinzia and co-owner Sarah Roulson undertook a sensitive renovation of the interior. Not ones to take the easy option, floors, ceilings, walls all needed doing and the bar alone, a magnificent mahogany and marquetry creation was brought over from Lille in northern France, took 8 men to install it in the building no less!
Produce being the key to the menu, and the food the focus of attention, it is in keeping with this ethos that the deli store greets you at the front door. An array of continental and UK goodies, including their own imported pastas and wines (the list is entirely Italian and all from native grape varieties) alongside home made cakes and perfectly kept cheeses.
Whilst there is a small dining area downstairs for when it is really busy amongst the beams and foodstuffs, upstairs on the bright airy first floor is the location for the main restaurant.
I asked Sarah, who looks after the guests with their happy helpful team, to describe the feel of the place “Simple and old-fashioned, comfortable and not overly formal, like the service. We aim to do things well and to get things right, remembering customers’ likes and dislikes and make them feel at home… and strive hard to make it as affordable as possible.” I couldn’t have described it better.
Without a wax dripped wicker wine bottle or red and white checked tablecloth in sight, Cinzia and Sarah purposefully avoided describing their delightful place as an Italian restaurant when they first opened, fearful of the Seventies trattoria connotations it can inspire. And the food is very much more catholic in its choice than just artisan Italian, the cuisine taking in British and French classics occasionally too. But Cinzia’s native cooking does take centre stage.
Delights such as homemade ravioli with pancetta and smoked eel, crab tagliatelle or roast pumpkin, rosemary and parmesan risotto have the unmistakable Latin feel but others such as rabbit in mustard sauce, curried butternut squash soup and roast lamb with spiced aubergines, flatbread and tzatziki hint at more diverse origins.
But the broad umbrella encompasses an intense singular thread, proper earthy ingredients coming together with a real zing, maximising flavour and textures. No bother, no pretension, gutsy cooking at its best. Good food needs little embellishment.
Hitchcock’s Provisions and Dining Room, 10 Station Road, Sudbury, Suffolk
T: 01787 377037
