Soho is getting a serious Italian upgrade this autumn, and this one comes with a very good excuse to order pasta. BOLO, the new restaurant from celebrated Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo, is set to open on Glasshouse Street in London’s Soho, bringing old-school Italian cooking, fresh pasta and plenty of personality to the neighborhood.
The intimate 32-seat Soho restaurant is Contaldo’s first new restaurant project in nearly 20 years, making BOLO one of London’s more anticipated restaurant openings of 2026. The name comes from Contaldo’s signature Bolognese recipe, so yes, you can probably assume ragù will be involved—and hopefully in heroic quantities.
BOLO is being created in partnership with Brava Hospitality Group, the company behind Prezzo and the UK revival of Jamie’s Italian. Located next door to Prezzo on Glasshouse Street, the new restaurant is designed to feel more like a traditional Italian trattoria than a sprawling celebrity-chef production.
The menu will focus on freshly made pasta, seasonal starters and dishes inspired by Contaldo’s Italian roots and childhood on the Amalfi Coast. Expect hearty Bolognese ragù, lemon tagliolini and seafood pasta, along with a refreshingly pared-back drinks approach featuring a “one-wine-per-colour” philosophy.
For anyone who knows Contaldo from television, cookbooks or his longtime connection to Jamie Oliver, BOLO is also something of a homecoming. Contaldo famously mentored Oliver after the two met while working at Antonio Carluccio’s Neal Street Restaurant in Covent Garden. His previous restaurant, Passione in Fitzrovia, closed in 2009.
BOLO is expected to open in Soho in autumn 2026, with reservations likely to become a hot commodity once the doors open.
Because apparently Soho needed one more reason to make us eat pasta.
