Capilungo

Capilungo is a family-run Italian cafe and wine bar on Long Acre, the first London outpost of a business founded in Lecce in 1991. The family describe it as an homage to all things Puglia, and the Covent Garden site is their first branch outside Italy, bringing the cafe culture of the southern Italian city to a corner a short walk from the underground station and the theatres.

The house speciality is the pasticciotto Leccese, a shortcrust pastry filled with flavoured creams that the family are best known for at home, baked alongside the savoury rustico, pizzettas and other pastries each morning. By day the room works as a cafe for coffee, brunch classics and a relaxed lunch. In the evening it shifts into a wine bar and restaurant, with an all-day menu of Italian small plates, burrata and cured meats, and a wine and spirits list drawn from producers in Puglia. A hidden wine and cocktail bar serves southern-inspired aperitivo signatures, pitched as a stop on the way to the theatre.

Italian cafe on Long Acre

Among the options for an Italian cafe on Long Acre, Capilungo stands out for its regional focus. The interior is terracotta-hued and light-filled, designed to recall the streets of Lecce, and the kitchen puts weight on provenance and seasonality rather than a generic Italian menu. It is equally useful for a morning pastry and espresso, a sit-down brunch at the weekend, or a glass of Apulian wine with a plate of burrata before a show.

What to expect on a visit

Opening hours run from 9am on most days, with an 8.30am start on Thursdays and Fridays, and the bar keeps the room open until 9pm from Wednesday to Saturday. Tables can be booked online and the venue takes party and event bookings. Further along the street, L'ETO offers an all-day menu and a large dessert counter, and the rest of the cafes in Covent Garden are listed in the directory.