People familiar with Nolita will not be surprised to hear how executive chef Fabrizio Morelli describes his approach to his craft. The luxury restaurant at Brookmans Park, while a comparative newcomer to Hertfordshire, has an established reputation for its food, helped by its association with its older sister, Little Italy, in London’s Soho – Nolita stands for ‘North of Little Italy’. As this month’s recipe shows, chef Morelli sticks closely to his roots, offering ‘mainly Mediterranean food, very simple, mostly grilled, using fresh produce’. Nolita regulars will agree with him that ‘we try to use the best available’, with the fish coming in fresh nearly every day and items such as cherry tomatoes and salad ingredients brought in from Sicily.From it, Fabrizio produces a menu with five fish mains, five meat and six pasta, all of which is home-made. The menu changes every two months, though established favourites such as gazpacho and calamari are regulars.

Platter of grilled lobster, king prawns and swordfish with mixed-leaf salad and cherry tomatoes

Ingredients (for 4)2 whole fresh lobster, each 600g12 king prawns4 swordfish tranches, each 180gMixed-leaf salad Cherry tomatoes

For citronelle salad dressing:Olive oil Lemon juiceSalt and pepper

Method>> Cut each lobster in half, clean and season with drizzled extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Remove heads from prawns, cut in half and de-vein them and season as above. Season sliced swordfish as above. >> Grill lobster first for about 7 min each side, then the prawns for 5 min each side, then the swordfish for 5 min each side. Arrange ingredients on large plates and garnish with mixed leaves and cherry tomatoes dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

BOOK A TABLENolitaGreat North Road, Brookmans Park AL9 6NA01707 644858www.nolitarestaurant.co.uk