Private Dining Rooms

Overview

The name Il Convivio actually comes from the Italian poet Dante. The name of the restaurant literally translates as a meeting over food and drink of anti-establishment intellectual philosophers of the Dante era.

Walking into the Georgian House restaurant, you will find a small number of sought after tables at street level overlooking Ebury Street.

Walk down a couple of steps and you will find yourself in the main body of the restaurant that benefits from a skylight to create an airy and spacious dining room. A few more steps down will lead you to a charming bar area, perfect for pre or after dinner drinks.

The restaurant has a conservatory at the back for al fresco dining with the advantage of an electric roof to enable year round dining. The conservatory features cedar wood decking and the theme continue into the restaurant with limestone and cedar wood panels. Beautiful, deep red walls are embossed with words taken from Dante's poetry lending an air of romanticism to this elegantly styled restaurant.

The private dining room offers corporate and individual clients a perfect and exclusive setting for entertaining. The large antique table seats up to 14 and a small adjacent lounge area features sofas and a coffee table for relaxing before and after your meal.

A selection of menus is available to suit every budget and tailor made menus are available on request.

The private dining room also benefits from its own music system – allowing guests to play the music of their choice and also has its own private bathroom facilities.

Jonathan Lees

Chef's Profile : Jonathan Lees, Il Convivio 

How long have you been at the restaurant?

I have been with the company for over 12 years now.

Which was the first restaurant you worked in?

Sully House, Sully, Wales.

What was the last London restaurant you went to, apart from your own?

Benares.

Which London restaurant is your favourite and why?

Le Gavroche. It has been at such a high standard for so long and it will never change. “This is the benchmark for all aspiring chefs and waiters”.

What or who has been the biggest influence on the way you cook and why?

Alberico Penati, he demands the utmost professionalism from his chefs and is a fantastic teacher.

He taught me the meaning of the word why!!!

What is your personal signature dish?

Fillet of Monkfish wrapped in Prosciutto and Courgettes, with a Pea Velouté and Marjoram Sauce.

Which other chef(s) do you most admire?

Not a fair question. Anyone who does this job with a genuine passion deserves to be admired.

What’s the best part of your job?

Actually cooking, there is nothing better.

And the worst?

Paperwork, even if it is a necessary evil.

What would your last meal be?

Steak, kidney and black sausage pie. My mum is the best at this dish.

Do you have a chef’s shortcut that you can share with us?

I don’t do shortcuts!

Luigi Buonanno

How long have you been at the restaurant?

Almost 4 years

What attracted you to become a sommelier?

At the age of 16 I started working in restaurants – even though I was still attending school at the time. At 18 I started working for a fine dining restaurant and I discovered that they had a sommelier – which I was intrigued by. It was then that the seed was planted for me to become a sommelier.

Where did you do your training?

At AIS in Rome, Italy. I studied there to become a professional sommelier and then improved my knowledge with a Masters in Sensory Analysis of Wine.

What would you say were the essential skills required to be a sommelier?

First and foremost passion is a must! Other must have skills are a trained palate and a good olfactory memory (memory to recall smells).

What wines complement your personal favourite three course meal and why?

Poached asparagus with quail eggs and hollandaise with Pouilly Fume, Risotto with white Alba truffle matched with Barbaresco, chocolate fondant with Passito di Pantelleria.

What are your thoughts on the "Red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat and fish" age-old debate?

I personally feel it depends on the dish itself, for example I would never match caciucco with a white wine, even though it is a fish dish I would always match it with a light red such as a young pinot noir. To use a simple rule would be to colour match your dishes – for example most dishes with a tomato base work well with a red wine, whereas lighter coloured dishes are better with white wine. This is just a general rule though and there are always exceptions!

How does the choice of the right wines complement the different food courses served?

When serving a customer what they want will always come first. The customer comes to enjoy their meal not to be taught. Having said that when you have the possibility to pair the wine with the food at the request of the customer it gives me the most pleasure – however some customers just want to drink their favourite wine no matter what they are eating. Some of the most of the expensive wines I have sold in my life were matched with wrong food.

I believe my job is to recommend a wine to give an experience and not to enforce our knowledge.

What's the best part of your job?

It is definitely tasting wines and discovering the many aspects of this world which is in constant evolution. It never gets boring.

And the worst?

I honestly don’t think there are any bad aspects to the job - although sometimes tasting 100+ wines in a day can be tiring!

What is the unusual wine that you have ever tasted and why?

I recently came across a Japanese wine. It is made by Koshu grape variety and it is surprisingly citrusy, I could not say that there is another grape variety close to this.

What is the most money that you’ve ever seen spent on a single bottle?

Going out I have to say that I usually have more than one bottle with my meal, I like to pair my wine to the food I am eating. Saying that I have spent upwards of £130 on a single bottle although that wasn’t the wine I had that night.

How many wines do you have?

Our group stocks over 350 bins – and I am constantly adding to it.

How often do you find that customers complain about wine being corked and - in your opinion - how often do you think that they are right?

Fortunately it does not happen frequently. The wine is always tried by me or another sommelier before it is served to ensure that it isn’t corked.

It does sometimes happen that the customer still feels that the wine is corked and the wisest thing to do is step back.

At the end of the day the customer is always right. Replacing a bottle is the least dramatic thing to do.