If you’re overcome by a Pavarotti-sized hunger then take a gondola down Wigmore Street and taste some of London’s finest Venetian cuisine. Just don’t expect to find a mint Cornetto on the menu.

The Venue
Situated behind Oxford Circus on Marylebone’s Wigmore Street, 2 Veneti is owned and run by Simon Piovesan, a Venetian who’s put his heart and soul into bringing good Venetian cuisine to London. The bright, clean decor perhaps won’t win any major style prizes, however its bare-brick walls and quirky small coves are nicely decorated with monochrome images of the watery homeland. Outside, a couple of tables are perched on the small, floral-laced terrace and are perfect for dining alfresco.

The Atmosphere
With Harley Street just around the corner 2 Veneti is set in prime doctor country. Its fancy W1 address no doubt brings a certain class to the restaurant and the smart-casual dress code is a magnet for the chinos and brogues brigade. The staff are super-friendly, professional and as passionate as only the Italians can be about both the food and the extensive wine list.

The Food
The menu here at 2 Veneti is a real treat, not only because it offers a set price of £16 for one course, £25 for two, £29 for three and £33 for a belt-busting four courses, but because it offers a different take on your standard Italian fare. Alongside the a la carte menu, the chef has created special dishes which change weekly. After some deliciously oily-fresh foccacia, the antipasti arrives. The burratina vaccina is truly a gift from the gods, creamy fresh mozzarella is churned with butter and served with a salad of asparagus, beans and cherry tomatoes. Its clean, fresh flavour of the cheese has gloriously buttery undertones and is so good tears were shed after the final mouthful.

A typical Venetian dish of sarde in soar, sweet and sour sardines is like the Venetian take on a roll-mop. Served chilled it has a distinctly vinegary flavour which is slightly sweetened with sultanas and pine nuts. The fillet of beef carpaccio is just as delicious and arrives wafer-thin and drizzled with a piquant parmesan mayonnaise and topped with a nest of rocket leaves. Next, for the pasta course, try the handmade Venetian pasta, bigoli (fat spaghetti) is topped with a piquant anchovy and onion sauce. Another winner is the spinach spaghettini with crab meat and cherry tomatoes, offering a more delicate approach with its gentle crab flavour.

Now’s the time to undo a button or two as it’s on to the next course… The fritto misto Veneziano is a veritable party bag of fried fresh fish. A light, almost tempura-style batter coats soft shell crab, plump fillets of red mullet and the ubiquitous rings of fresh calamari. This generous plate comes with a homemade tartar sauce plus the odd strip of lightly battered courgette as a vague nod to your five-a-day. The trancio di tonno, grilled tuna steak, is just as delicious, cooked rare, served on a fat slab of grilled aubergine and topped with a tasty black olive tapenade.

And just when you think you can’t possibly eat any more, the dessert menu arrives and taunts you with its wonderful Venetian-style tiramisu (served in a sweet pastry basket) and chocolate salami (rolled with biscuits) served with pistachio ice cream. For the truly stuffed, try the deliciously sweet and wafer-thin pineapple carpaccio served with a bittersweet Aperol sorbet.

The Drink
2 Veneti has a small bar bursting with Italian aperitifs, digestives and spirits. The wine list is extensive and almost exclusively Italian (bar the Champagne) which is always nice to see. Get in the Venetian mood with a glass of prosecco (£6.50 glass/£18 carafe/ £26 bottle) from Veneto to start with. The house wine is called Rujiade, the red a Merlot grape and the white a Pinot Blanca (£4.50 glass/£11 500ml carafe, £32 magnum). There are some fine Pinot Grigios including an excellent Pinot Grigio Ramato (£35 bottle) which has a beautiful coppery hue, as apparently all serious Pinot Gs should have. It’s dry but fruity with a nice lengthy flavour. A true Italian meal would not be complete without grappa and here there’s a fine collection of this firewater from £5 a glass.

The Last Word
This small Venetian restaurant in the heart of W1 is a smart but friendly place which offers a different take to the generic Italian cuisine seen so many times in the capital. For great food, fine Italian wines and super-friendly staff it’s the nearest Londoners get to an enchanted evening in Venice. Recommended.

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