Lina Stores

Soho's Italian Larder, Eight Decades On

In 1944, when Soho's streets were still threaded with immigrant provisions shops and continental delis serving a largely expatriate clientele, a small Italian grocery opened on Brewer Street. That shop, Lina Stores, became one of the neighbourhood's most enduring food addresses. The Greek Street restaurant, at 51 Greek St, London W1D 4EH, is the evolution of that original deli identity into a full sit-down format, carrying the same name and, in large part, the same material philosophy: Italian staples sourced with attention to provenance, made in-house where it counts, served without the formality that defines the higher end of London's Italian tier.

That longer Italian casual tier in London has expanded considerably over the past decade. Restaurants like Bancone and Artusi have staked out pasta-led identities in different parts of the city, while Bocca di Lupo and Luca sit closer to the formal end of the Italian register. Lina Stores operates between these poles: more structured than a neighbourhood trattoria, less ceremonial than a modern Italian fine-diner.

The Sourcing Logic Behind the Menu

Italian cooking at its casual end is, structurally, one of the more sustainability-aligned cuisines in the European tradition. Its foundations, dried pulses, cured meats, aged cheeses, fermented anchovies, pasta made from flour and egg, are low-waste by design. Preservation is the point, not a workaround. Lina Stores carries that logic forward in its deli-to-restaurant lineage, where the Italian larder itself is the concept rather than a backdrop to it.

Chef Masha Rener leads the kitchen. In a restaurant whose identity is so closely tied to ingredient sourcing and Italian pantry traditions, the kitchen's role is partly curatorial: selecting the right raw materials, then doing as little as necessary to let them function. That approach connects the restaurant to a broader conversation happening across European casual dining about restraint, provenance, and the environmental cost of over-processed food. Shorter supply chains, seasonal rotation, and a menu built from larder staples rather than luxury imports all tend to produce a lower-footprint operation than format-driven restaurants dependent on airfreighted protein or out-of-season produce.

Opinionated About Dining, one of the more data-driven critical guides in European restaurant coverage, has included the restaurant in its Casual in Europe rankings in both 2023 (Recommended) and 2025 (Ranked #835).

Where the Greek Street Site Sits in Soho's Italian Scene

Soho has always been London's most contested restaurant neighbourhood, and its Italian presence reflects the borough's layered immigrant history. The area around Old Compton Street and Greek Street carries Italian associations going back to the early twentieth century, when Italian cafes, delis, and pasta shops clustered here partly because of proximity to the original Italian immigrant community in Clerkenwell to the east. That history gives addresses like Lina Stores a contextual depth that newer Italian openings in Mayfair or the City lack.

The Greek Street site is the restaurant arm of a small multi-site operation. London has seen Italian brands extend from one successful casual format into several locations, and the restaurant follows that pattern. For visitors, the Greek Street address is especially central and the directly connected to the original Soho deli identity. The hours are Monday through Thursday, lunch runs 12 to 2:30 pm and dinner 5 to 11 pm; Friday through Sunday the kitchen runs continuously from 12 to 11 pm.

For London visitors whose Italian interests run to the higher end of the register, the city's options are extensive. Archway represents a different Italian register entirely. Internationally, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong and cenci in Kyoto show how the Italian template travels across different culinary cultures. For those whose London trip extends beyond the city, the country's most decorated restaurant addresses, The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton, operate in a different tier and a different mode entirely.

Know Before You Go