Venezia

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 there is a passion for integrity in 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.

A choice of dips includes sour cream, sun dried tomato and basil, garlic, mayonnaise and Caesar dressing. Turning to the stars of the show, Gamberta is made with tomato, tiger prawns, king prawns, wild rocket, garlic, red hot peppers but no mozzarella. The quaintly named Speck pizza has as it centrepiece some of the distinctively flavoured Italian version of this wonderful type of prosciutto. The ever faithful Margherita with its generous topping of tomato, mozzarella and fresh basil seldom fails to please and a san Danielle brings together mozzarella, tomato, cotto ham and a selection of mushrooms and oregano. An attractive range of salads is always available.

Antipasti offers a good range of palate-tickling dishes with involtini at the top of the list for many. Rolls of wood-roasted aubergines stuffed with four cheeses and finished with tomato and garlic are superb, with chicken wings served with sour cream, and butter fried king prawns backed with chilli and white wine, olive oil, cherry tomatoes sprinkled with spring onions creating a wonderful collection of flavours. Breads can be useful as well as an appetising part of the meal, handy for mopping up those last savoury morsels.

The wine list is slender but perfectly adequate, with such treats as a light, dry house Chardonnay, a Prosecco special cuvee and a worthy Chianti Classico with power and texture in its favour.

Venezia is a great find, their Website will tell you more about their menu changes and location in Finsbury Park.