Focus on local business: The Cockney Jew Trattoria
Self-styled Cockney Jew Clint Bone is the man behind one of the food stalls on the passageway between Portobello Road and Acklam Road, just off the Portobello and Cambridge Gardens junction. Clint offers homemade Italian dishes at his canopied restaurant, The Cockney Jew Trattoria, which is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.“I was born in Stepney, within the sound of Bow Bells,” says the splendidly moustachioed Clint, “and my mother is Jewish. My family moved over to North Kensington when I was a toddler and it’s been my home ever since.” Clint has the market in his blood and reckons he can trace back market traders in his family as long ago as five generations. “I started out on Oxford Street, working with my Mum selling jewellery,” recalls Clint
After a somewhat troubled youth including scrapes with the law, Clint decided to move to Malta and that’s where he got his initiation into the catering trade. “I was in Malta for eight years, at first working in nightclubs and then in kitchens. That’s where I learnt my cooking skills on the job,” says Clint. “My mother, who passed away 10 years ago, had a great love of food and that’s where I got my passion for cooking from.”
“I’m doing Italian food on the market because in fact it’s the very first fast food. I can prepare a dish with fresh ingredients in just a matter of a few minutes,” Clint claims. And he backs up his claim by making a penne salmone, that’s smoked salmon flambéed in vodka in a creamy sauce. The Golborne Life verdict? Truly delicious.
The fact that all the dishes Clint serves are cooked on the spot is one of his main selling points. “None of my food has been sitting on a hotplate for who knows how long," Clint points out. "You order your dish, and then I’ll cook it in front of you.”
Pasta dishes on offer include Napolitano, carbonara and cartoccio, which is slow roasted pork with peanuts in a ragu sauce. There’s also some seafood options, whitebait, calamari and sardines, all served with salad and garlic bread.
Clint has been running his stall since April 2016. “It’s been a hard slog,” he says, “but it’s been worth it. Word of mouth has seen our customer numbers on the up. I love this job, cooking food, twisting my moustache and being part of this brilliant community. There’s nothing better!”
The Cockney Jew Trattoria
Portobello Road and Cambridge Gardens junction on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays