Venosi Ristorante

It’s nice around Sloane Avenue, everyone drives a Ferrari, clubs at Boujis and every day they eat their lunch at Bibendum. Well that last bit might be about to change.

Venosi, is a great little restaurant run by Luigi Venosi, whose restaurant career started over 48 years ago in Italy. He opened first restaurant, "San Antonio" in London in 1970. It’s clear as soon as you are greeted by the host that he knows his onions and is passionate about Italian food and making his patrons feel at home.

The restaurant has circular tables with white table linen and high backed black leather chairs. With exposed brickwork, lots of natural light and floral displays, the room is smart and contemporary without being fussy. There is small hatch where you can see the chefs at work, which is very handy if your dinning partner is a little uncommunicative and providing little in the way of entertainment.

One early Saturday afternoon, we found ourselves sharing Venosi with three tables of Chelsea ladies out doing lunch. After ordering water and Prosecco we settled down to peruse the menu. It steers away from more usual Italian menu fillers. For starters you have "Insalata di polpo" - Warm octopus and potato salad with fresh green pesto dressing and "Sardine alla griglia" Grilled sardines off the bone with lemon, which seems to be a house favourite. I opted for the rather safe Buffalo Mozzarella, Parma ham, Basil oil dressing.

My Parma Ham was spot on the money, with just the right amount of basil oil. My partner had the house Sardines, which came beautifully deboned as the menu promised. Our starters were a portent of things to come, this was going to be a very enjoyable meal.

The other half chose King prawns sautéed with garlic, herbs, chilli and white wine, for her main. This was an option on the starter menu but Venosi was happy to serve it as a main with more prawns then I could shake a stick at. The Pork stuffed duck breast, with courgettes and orange and rosemary sauce, took my fancy.

For a good ten minutes we both fell silent as we made our way through our meals. The pork within the duck breast was a light and fluffy affair that I liked immensely. If I had to mark this dish down at all, it would be that for some palates the orange sauce would be a little rich. I was informed that the King prawns were cooked to perfection, with a precise amount of garlic, herbs, chilli to season the crustaceans.

After our mains, it was time to loosen the belt buckles. We were handed menus for dessert and knowing that our waistlines would not thank us, we both agreed that we had to sample to food in the interests of research and journalism. It’s fair to say however that the desert section is the weakest part of the menu. The selection is small and consists of Ice creams, Sorbets, Pannacotta and tiramisu. Whilst there was no problem with my tiramisu, which was shared against my wishes, it was a shame that the “dolce” menu did not have more breadth.

To sum up, Venosi is a welcome addition to the smart dining scene in Chelsea that will undoubtedly become a firm favourite very quickly.

We had our Christmas party here last week (10th Dec), and was bowled over by how good the food was. Every single person in the party (33 of us) enjoyed their food choices with every dish looking mouth watering!!!. The atmospehere was perfect, chilled out and comfortable. The place is absoultely stunning and all the waiters were very polite and attentive to our needs. The owner Luigi made us feel like we were old friends. Would definately highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who loves Italian food. :)

Went there over the weekend with my wife and had the most enjoyable evening. We were given a warm welcome from Luigi (the owner) as we arrived and shown to the elegant dining room. The space between the tables is excellent and comfortable. As soon as we took our seats 2 glasses of prosecco arrived as compliments. The food was outstanding as was the service. The toilets are first class for hygiene. Highly recommended will defo visit again. one to watch out for