We heard about La Storia through our friend at work – she and her boyfriend (owner Anton) opened the doors in August and invited us to come along and try it out. Being a friend, we were slightly hesitant just in case we wouldn’t be able to give them a favourable review – honesty is really important to us here at Nottinghammm. However, we booked in for a a work team Christmas lunch and were curious and excited to finally give La Storia a whirl – especially after drooling over their Instagram on a regular basis.

La Storia is an independent, family-run Italian restaurant that prides itself on authentic, home-cooked dishes of true Italian style. The decor is so lovely, it’s a really light and cosy setting with a chilled out vibe where you can enjoy anything from a top quality espresso in a cosy leather armchair to a large party in their spacious back dining room – and everything in between.

For starters, we ordered a selection of bread and olives for the table.

I knew we were in for a treat when the vibrant green nocellara olives (our favourite kind) and still-warm homemade focaccia bread were served. You can’t beat homemade bread for dipping and the olives were fresh and marinated in-house – a great touch. Another sign of brilliant attention to detail was the delicious olive oil; you could smell it before you tasted it and it was full of aroma and flavour. Result!

For the main course, I ordered the wild boar ragu which was just amazing. 

Perfectly cooked, flat pasta was served in a meaty gravy with large chunks of boar that had such a bold, authentic flavour. Delicious. I was impressed by the portion size which was generous but didn’t leave me feeling bloated.

Emily ordered the spaghetti vongole, al dente pasta tossed in white wine, garlic, chilli and clams.

This dish was absolutely delicious. With just a few, simple ingredients, the balance of flavours has to be bang on and La Storia nailed it. Just the right amount of kick from the chilli, a hint of garlic and citrus and just the right amount of sauce to coat the perfectly cooked pasta. The amount of clams absolutely blew us away, this was a very generous portion and they certainly don’t skimp on the seafood. This was a lovely dish made exactly how I imagine the Italians do. One slight adjustment would be to serve with a wedge of lemon and the option of parmesan, but the vongole didn’t need this to be super tasty.

After rave reviews of the coffee from our friends, I decided to just get an espresso instead of dessert, which was strong, rich and tasty. 

Emily and a friend shared two dishes, their classic Amalfi lemon tart and chestnut and hazelnut chocolate tortelli.


The lemon tart was Emily’s favourite, the gorgeously smooth, citrus-sweet tang of the set lemon filling reminding us of Emily’s Nanny’s infamous lemon curd. The pastry had a great bake and the creamy Italian gelato accompaniment was the perfect bedfellow. It tasted so fresh and homemade, you really did feel like you had been given a big, lemony hug. Delish.

We hadn’t tried tortelli before and were very intrigued. Basically, imagine a crumbly, Nutella pasty dipped in luxury chocolate sauce – it was delicious and felt very festive and indulgent. Served warm from the oven, the flaky pastry gave way the the oozy velvety and rich nut filling. This is a must for chocoholics!

We love Italian food, but after having so many disappointing meals at Italian chain restaurants, we had kinda given up on finding a decent dish on the high street. However, La Storia have restored our faith. The authenticity of what La Storia are trying to achieve really shines through in the cooking and the little touches, such as the house-marinated olives, so that you feel like you’re eating at a friend’s house (and that friend is a smashing cook). Everything is homemade and you can tell no corners are cut – you can taste that love and respect for their ingredients goes into every dish. The value is also good, with a generously portioned main course for around £10-£15. We will definitely be returning and will be recommending them to friends – it’s definitely worth the trip into West Bridgford.