Barnes storming

When Maurizio Morelli is not manning the stove at Green Olive, the chances are you'll find him in Barnes, south London, where he is helping to establish Lemon Thyme, the eighth and youngest member of the Red Pepper restaurant family.

There, he's been working with Raffaele Tambourilo, whose first head chef position this is, to create a modern-Italian neighbourhood restaurant. The menu is split into antipasti, pasta and risotto dishes, fish- and meat-based main courses, and puddings.

There are four or five items in each section and the focus is on simply garnished, light dishes such as grilled fillet of sea bass with grilled vegetables and balsamic vinegar (£14), or beef carpaccio with organic Parmesan cheese and rocket (£7.50).

Next to the seasonally changing à la carte menu, where four courses come in at around £27 without wine, is a weekly-changing set lunch priced at £15 for two courses and £18 for three. Pizzas (available in the evenings only) are cooked in a wood-burning oven and are priced from £6 for a simple Margherita to £9 for one piled with San Daniele ham, artichoke, wild mushrooms and olives.

Having studied at the same catering school in Italy, Tambourilo and Morelli met again at London's Ibla restaurant where they worked together for a year-and-a-half. Most recently, Tambourilo spent three months at Green Olive, but the opening of the 60-seat Lemon Thyme gave him the chance to run a kitchen for the first time and he's clearly enjoying the experience enormously. "The staff are all happy and there's a lot of energy and enthusiasm," he says. "Everyone is doing their best to make the restaurant a success."

Persuading Tambourilo to name his favourite dishes is tricky. "Everything, I like everything," he says, before pinning his colours to the fish dishes, in particular the tagliolini with monkfish and broccoli (£6.50/£8.50) and the fillet of sea bass. Of the four meat dishes, he picks out the grilled fillet of beef with mashed potatoes and red wine sauce (£14). "I love the red wine sauce and it's really not that heavy," he says.

Best-selling dishes are only now starting to emerge. Of the starters, the smoked scamorza cheese with grilled vegetables and basil oil (£6) and the squid stew with a light garlic crouton (£7) have been popular since the restaurant opened. Among the puddings, the ricotta cake with chocolate sauce (£4.50) is top of the list.

The brigade of three chefs, plus Fontana at the pizza oven, is supported by a front of house team of five. Between them, they welcome around 40 diners on weekday evenings and as many as 60 at the weekend. Lunchtime trade is slowly picking up, but Tambourilo and Morelli are confident it will be busier soon.

Lemon Thyme, 190 Castelnau, Barnes, London SW13 9DH. Tel: 020 8748 3437