Review

There are restaurants with grand entrances and others with prominent well-appointed open kitchens, and others boasting culinary geniuses at the helm, but at Casa Lenzi a spirited attempt by owner Francesco Lenzi is made to combine all three in some kind of grand dining concept of Italian and European cuisine. Here chef Stefano and his team have been given reign to create wider interpretations of Italian home cooking to include the best of European ingredients flown in weekly exclusively, as are all ingredients cooked here, to the Lenzi name. Set lunches are popular in 3 or 4-course versions but the restaurant comes to life, and the kitchen starts to dance, as the dinner settings take over. Try asparagi bianchi, grilled seasonal white asparagus drizzled with taleggio cheese fondue, parmigiano sabayon with sprinkled olive powder or Queen Wellington of Spanish langoustine and caribinero tail, foie gras and kale leaves wrapped in baked puff pastry, or a vegetarian offering of porro a la Wellington encasing leek in cheese sauce. Of the incredible hams from the Lenzi family farms, scaloppine di maiale iberico thin-sliced and cooked in white wine and lemon sauce, served with creamy mashed potato is a great choice. The bar is subdued compared to the main restaurant but the wine list contains over 200 labels predominantly Italian, with a few other European bottles.