This is the small restaurant in Walthamstow where Robin interviews Valentine Longcaster, an old friend of Charlotte Campbell’s and brother of their client Decima Mullins.
Robin approaches Valentine outside God’s Own Junkyard. He agrees to meet her in Arte e Pasta, which is a short walk away.
“The small restaurant, which lay three minutes’ walk away, had a mural painted on the outer wall. Robin was far too cold to wait for Valentine outside, so headed indoors and secured a table for two beneath a high ceiling that was partly corrugated iron. Coloured lanterns hung from iron bars above the tables and children’s drawings were pinned up on the wall. Robin doubted it was Valentine Longcaster’s kind of place.” (Chapter 62)
You can see the coloured lanterns, the corrugated iron, and the children’s drawings on the wall in the photo below.
Robin waits for Valentine for twenty minutes before ordering herself a mineral water and starts checking her email. Valentine finally appears, shrugging off his black jacket and sitting down.
Valentine orders a Peroni, and when the waitress returns with his lager, Robin orders a spaghetti carbonara.
Robin suffers a difficult interview with Valentine. He ends the conversation by telling her to “’fuck off away from my family. I don’t want to see you, ever again.’” He strides away, jacket over his shoulder, swearing at a woman who is too slow to move aside from the door.
In Chapter 63, still sat in Arte e Pasta, Robin talks to her mother on the phone, who tells her that Carmen has had the baby early.
Having lost her appetite to eat the spaghetti carbonara, Robin asks for the bill and leaves.
She sets off for the nearest Tube station and calls Ilsa and asks her about Strike and Charlotte’s relationship.
She likely turns right outside the restaurant and heads for Wood Street station. Further along down the street she is confronted by a man wearing a gorilla mask and wielding a ceremonial dagger.
The man throws down the dagger and bolts. Trying to stay calm, she returns to her phone call with Ilsa.
Unfortunately for Strike fans, Arte e Pasta has moved location. These are more recent pictures of the original building at 93 Shernhall Street in Walthamstow.
Arte e Pasta moved into the rear of the Sir Alfred Hitchcock Hotel towards the end of 2025. It’s a 25-minute walk away (or 10 minutes in a car) from the original location.
For the TV adaptation, since Arte e Pasta isn’t in its original location anymore, perhaps the crew may want to think about using the God’s Own Junkyard café for this scene and make use of this unique location…
Find the original location for Arte e Pasta on the map below.
And here is the relocated Arte e Pasta on the map.