When it comes to food, Italians always get it right. They eat pasta as a starter, put cheese on everything and schedule a snooze for when they’re done. And Tempo — the recently opened Mayfair restaurant — has us singing benissimo.

Japanese chef Yoshi Yamada trained at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Sorrento as well as others in Sardinia and Florence, and presents a seasonal menu of contemporary Italian dishes in an elegant Regency townhouse.

Start with cicchetti (small plates) such as seared octopus and pomegranate, followed by carpaccio (venison, swordfish or beef), antipasti, pasta (crab taglioloni or rabbit and pistachio tortelli) and meat or fish like tuna loin and baby chicken barley.

The upstairs bar serves light dishes all day from 10 a.m. It is bright and airy with floor-to-ceiling windows and a cheerful colour scheme. And there are sofas — perfect for a quick nap.

Tempo, 54 Curzon Street, W1J 8PG (020 7629 2742 or tempomayfair.co.uk). DailyCandy readers get 50 per cent off food and a free postdinner cocktail per person in the upstairs bar when they mention DailyCandy when booking until 11 July.

Photo: Courtesy of Tempo