Lunch Mon –Sat midday–2.30pm, dinner Mon–Thu 7pm–10.30pm, Fri–Sat 7pm–11pm
Filthy grey rain thundered over the Thames, some ghastly football match was on (presumably Chelsea playing) and the traffic, as a consequence of both, was horrendous. My husband and I had already been squabbling, but after he told the cab to go much further over Putney Bridge than necessary, which involved walking back through puddles in my heels, almost 20 minutes late for dinner at Enoteca Turi, the bickering turned into a full-scale row.
So it’s absolute testament to this lovely restaurant that our unpleasant #firstworldprobs argument dissipated pretty much as soon as we arrived, having been given such a genuinely warm welcome that we were almost smiling at each other as we sat down at a cosy corner table, watching the rain streaming down the window from our comfortable vantage point. The low-lit, terracotta-painted room was buzzing with chatter from contented diners, and looking around, we could see why. Even before sampling the food, it was apparent that we were in the hands of consummate professionals, namely husband and wife Giuseppe and Pamela Turi, and their charming, knowledgeable team.
Giuseppe, originally from Puglia, has clearly learned the business the old-fashioned way (that is, the good way)—his impressive CV includes stints at the Athenaeum and Connaught, as both sommelier and maitre’d. This first class experience was evident as he did the rounds, making sure that all his guests were happy; the hospitality was such that we really did feel like guests rather than customers.
We were there to sample the autumnal Game, Chestnut and Truffle menu, which gave a wonderful taste of the kitchen’s excellence. My chestnut flan with pecorino cream, slow poached egg and black truffle was a dream, unctuous yet delicate, the egg yolk mingling with the cream and almost panna-cotta-like flan to create a heavenly emulsion, the truffle bringing bosky depth to the dish.
My husband’s seared, thinly sliced, lightly smoked venison with red cabbage and apple, pomegranate and horseradish brought a proper smile to his face (at last!) and we clinked glasses, apologising for our earlier ridiculous spat. He continued to rhapsodise about the meat’s tenderness and the complementary seasonal accompaniments, a perfect foil to its richness.
To follow, my ‘fillet of brill with no rice potato clam risotto, truffle butter and crispy artichokes’ was equally exquisite, the ‘no rice potato clam risotto’ a particular revelation. It might seem unnecessary to render potatoes rice-like, but the texture worked unbelievably well, soaking up the sweet salinity of the clam juice in a manner that wouldn’t have been possible with starchy Arborio or its peers. The now happy husband’s ‘roast breast of pheasant, spelt wheat with leg ragout, puree of cavolo nero’ was, again, exemplary.
For pudding we shared a ‘crumbled almond cake with yoghurt and lime sauce, dark grape jelly’—I fear this review might get boring were I to go on, yet again, about its perfection, so can I just leave it at that? It was perfect.
The humorous and delightful Pamela Turi sent me some blurb the day after we visited, and this stuck out: ‘Enoteca is loosely translated as “wine library” or “wine place”, and in this context, wine plays a large part. Its wine list aims to represent the enormous range of styles in Italian winemaking today and for this reason it is regularly updated to reflect the ever-evolving wine scene.’ With the autumnal menu, every dish was matched with a wine that couldn’t have been better chosen, and I’m confident that this is the case all year round.
Enoteca Turi is moving from Putney to Pimlico at the beginning of February, which has come as a real blow to a lot of Putney residents who, quite rightly, treasured this former local gem. For those of us living the other side of the river, it’s great news indeed. I highly advise you to book now—it might be a long time before you get a table.
