London could hardly stand accused of nurturing a lack of Italian restaurants, which means that the bar is fixed pretty high for the many places that do seek to please those who value that welcome touch from the Mediterranean, when the toast is Lo Stivale! At Venezia in Finsbury Park North London, there is a passion for integrity in Italian food that helps them to achieve a high level of quality and enjoyment. People nowadays are more than ever concerned about how what reaches them at the table is produced, prepared and served. Italian cuisine is perhaps more than ordinarily vulnerable to these expectations.

The pizza reigns supreme at Venezia, prepared as they should be on a wood burning stove, a spectacular tour de force that is not lacking in effect. Personally I would find a metre long pizza a bit of a challenge, but of course the whole point is it creates a good sharing experience, restoring a sense of community to the process of taking on sustenance. To support this aim the ½ metre Venezia Family Feast provides a similar opportunity for 3 or 4 people.

Most of the pizzas however come in 12" or ¼ metre size which covers a variety of situations. Toppings are drawn from a wonderful array of cheese and vegetable options with salted anchovies and tuna for awkward people like me. One or two of these carry a modest surcharge but with the breadth of choices there should not be a problem. Goat's cheese, mozzarella, dolcelatte, speck, Greek feta meat, Spanish chorizo, fresh mushrooms and capers, pepperoni and wood roasted chicken breast, new potatoes, red peppers radicchio and cherry tomatoes and other options all await you.