Enoteca Turi, 28 Putney High Street, London, SW15 1SQ Tel: 020 785 4449 www.enotecaturi.com

Enoteca Turi is situated in Putney High Street, close to Putney Bridge, just a short walk from the main line station. As you enter the restaurant you are struck by its crisp but stylish homelike decor, it has a warm comfortable feel to it that is very inviting. We were seated at a table looking out towards the bridge with a great view of a beautifully lit Norman style church, which for me made a nice backdrop for the evening.

As we sat perusing the menu we each sipped on a glass of Falanghina Sannio, a nice crisp white with a good fruitiness to it that was lovely. The menu contains many interesting Italian regional dishes and it was hard to choose what we would like to eat, but choose we must.

Eventually, with a little advice from the proprietor Giuseppe Turi, we chose the deep fried sardine and the Podolica beef sausage. The dishes arrived; the sausage was a rustic style, with sizable chunks of meat as well as some that was more finely chopped or minced, it had a firm texture and great flavour, this came in a Apulian salad that was made up mixed leaves with a good dressing and some char grilled Altamura bread. The sardine had been filleted then stuffed with pecorino cheese, pine nuts and basil, then the broader more fleshy part of the fillet was pulled back over the stuffing creating a sort of ‘Q’ shape before being breaded and deep fried. This was served on a bed of caper salsa, which had a tangy sweetness that contrasted well with the fish, a small lightly dressed baby spinach salad was piled neatly to the side, that also added a freshness to the dish. These were two interesting and very good starters

For mains, the fillet of cod with herb crust was a perfectly cooked, moist and flaky fillet, its herb and breadcrumb crust giving it both additional flavour and texture from its toasting. Served on a bed of tomato and cannellini beans, some mussels on the shell and with some paccheri di Gragnano pasta (a large pasta tube) filled with chopped olives and more, this was a very good combination that worked, creating a lovely dish. The oxtail ‘Roman style’ was another interesting creation, the meat having been braised until tender then removed from the bone and shredded before mixing with pine nuts and raisins and shaping into cake with a mould, this came with a tasty jus and some good celeriac puree, another excellent dish, its component parts coming together well on the plate.

For dessert, the hazelnut semifreddo, from the set menu, had a good strong hazelnut flavour to it and lots of good crunchy hunks of the nut; served with a fresh tasting strawberry sauce, it made a perfect end to the meal. The polenta and apple tart had a nice acidity from the apple, light and fruity it was balanced well by the accompanying cinnamon sauce.

Enoteca Turi has an extensive wine list, with house wines at £16 per bottle. The restaurant’s proprietor Giuseppe Turi is a former Sommelier having worked in that capacity at the Connaught and Athenaeum Hotels and has recommended wines by the glass for each of the menu offerings. We went with his pairings and tasted some lovely wines that did match the food well. Service was attentive throughout the meal, we were very well looked after. This an excellent local restaurant, serving good regional Italian food and certainly an enjoyable place to visit.

It is also worth mentioning that Enoteca Turi run food and wine pairing evenings about once every two months. The next of these evenings is on 23 March 2010 and is focusing on the Sardinia region of Italy, its food and wines. Their web site above will tell you more about this and about being alerted to future pairing evenings.