Step inside new restaurant Osteria Veneziana in Colchester

Now, with more than two decades in the hospitality trade under their belts separately, they are bringing their combined experience to the town having opened their first venue together.

Osteria Veneziana has recently opened its doors in the town’s St Botolph’s Street with a clear vision of what Alberto and Timmy want to bring to food enthusiasts.

And their starting point was good quality Italian dishes with traditional English flavour also running alongside it.

Alberto explains he and Timmy are of Italian and Albanian heritage, but have been living and working in England a number of years and very much call it home.

“We are originally from Italy, with an Albanian background as well, but we came here at a very young age and stayed,” he adds.

They said Colchester immediately appealed to them when looking for the right position for their new premises.

“We liked Colchester straight away and then the premises in St Botolph’s Street came up and we knew it was meant to be.

“I had only really been doing a window shop to see what what available and there it was, and it just seemed so right.”

Alberto explains he and his brother bring a wealth of experience with them, adding: “I have worked in Essex for about 20 years and my forte is front of house.

“My brother Timmy is the chef, he has worked in some of the top restaurants in London.

“He worked at the Commonwealth Club, which has an exclusive membership, and for the Babylon Roofed Garden and Rules, which is the oldest restaurant in London.

“All of this experience gave us a real vision and drive to have our own restaurant though, it is what we always wanted,” he says.

It must have been fate as the premises they found in Colchester already had a pizza oven and so the wood-fired version of the Italian classic form part of the menu at Osteria Veneziana - but it also has plenty of other tricks up its sleeve, explains Alberto.

“There are Italian classic dishes like Arancini, crispy breaded risotto balls and spaghetti carbonara and all the pasta dishes that everyone loves.

“But we also have classic English dishes too like a rack of lamb, corn-fed chicken or fillet steak.

“And we also have fresh fish on the menu too.”

Fans of finishing off their meal with a dessert won’t be disappointed either with a host of sweet treats on offer.

These are all hand-made, explains Alberto who says he really feels he and his brother are bringing a dining experience to the town which is not widely offered.

“We make all the desserts ourselves and again there are the traditional Italian dishes on offer, like panna cotta and tiramisu, but also there is cheesecake for example.

“We looked at what was on offer in the town and really felt a family-minded restaurant was something that was really important.

“We wanted to be a restaurant family would feel comfortable and welcome at, they don’t always want to go to a fast food outlets.

“The prices are affordable so that you can come and have a pizza and a glass of wine and then continue with your afternoon or evening, you don’t always have to have a three course dinner,” he adds.

This attitude is also reflected in the name the brothers have chosen - roughly translated osteria means “a place to dine comfortably”.

Alberto continues : “It is essentially like you are in your own dining room, that is what osteria means.

“It is what we were aiming for with our restaurant, how we want the diners to feel.

“And Veneziana, well that is obviously the Italian version of Venice, which is probably one of the most visited cities in the world.

“Not only that, but it is visited by people from every country across the world.

“Everyone is welcome and that was the idea of how we feel about our own place,” adds Alberto.

He hopes people will also enjoy the wines which have been specifically chosen, as well as their hand-prepared dishes and soon word will spread about Osteria Veneziana.

“They are well-priced and also hand-produced because it was important to us to avoid big corporations where possible.

“The wine-list has been hand-picked for us by a wine expert from Colchester, including from Italy of course and also Argentina and Australia.”

The pair, who have undertaken a refurbishment of the premises before opening just after Easter, says they are also passionate about using fresh ingredients, locally sourced as much as possible.

“The restaurant is classic, but not expensive and I really hope people will come and have a look.

“We have had a lot of people just coming in from the street which has been really nice, but we would really like to get the message out about what we are doing and for people to come and just try the food.”

Visit www.osteriaveneziana.co.uk/ to view the menu