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One day, on Facebook, I was contacted by a young Italian chef. His colleagues told him about me and he wanted to have a chat. His name is Francesco Sodano. He and his brother Salvatore are both chefs. Originally from the province of Naples in Italy, each of them left home separately to learn and gain experiences in different (mostly 2-Michelin starred) restaurants around the world. Rome, Malibu and London were just some of their stops. Salvatore and Francesco are now working together in London at Enoteca Turi on Pimlico road complementing each other perfectly. Enoteca Turi is owned by Giuseppe and Pamela Turi. Giuseppe, being a passionate sommelier with WSET diploma, opened his Enoteca 25 years ago in Putney but moved it to Pimlico road in 2016 creating out of it a proper restaurant with a beautiful selection of wines.

I liked Francesco’s humbleness united with a very sane ambition, deep love for cooking and a desire to learn and grow, so my curiosity consequently took me to Chelsea to try Francesco’s and Salvatore’s food and I enjoyed it.

Burrata with pea puree was beautifully light and full of freshness, anchovy was giving it a fantastic depth of flavour without making it heavy. Marinated scallops with bulgur wheat and the light acidity of the fermented cucumber paired with saltines of sea herbs were delightful! I really enjoyed also the smoked duck egg yolk with black garlic and shiitake mushroom. I wish i could have it again now while writing. Veal tongue was perfectly cooked and nicely balanced with langoustine, texture of celery and salsa verde. Sheets of miso pasta with red mullet, padron pepper and sea snails are worth another visit. Also sea bass with clams, Scottish girolle, white cabbage and zucchine bombetta was really a great dish.  Pre-dessert – the basil yoghurt and fallen strawberry consome – was beautifully refreshing and the Chocolate + coconut dessert felt like a delicious cloud – light, not very sweet yet bursting with flavour: tuile pastry was filled with a layer of delicious chocolate cremeaux, a layer of  cocco-straciatella ice cream and topped with cocco foam sprinkled with dried fresh coffee and chocolate sprinkles. All dishes were executed perfectly, flavours were intense, clean and well balanced, every dish had that beautiful playfulness in textures showing that we are dealing with chefs who care about every detail.  Keep an eye on Francesco and Salvatore Sodano – these guys are promising, so I am looking forward to returning.