convivio Review

A couple of friends and I visited Convivio recently on a bit of a whim; we had passed the restaurant earlier in the day and decided to give it a go for dinner. On entering, one is greeted with a pretty traditional looking Swiss restaurant (ie, wood panelling on the walls), however it was spruced up with art throughout. It won't win any modern interior design awards, but it's pleasant and unpretentious. I can't really comment on the atmosphere, as we visited during the holiday season and there were only two other tables seated the whole evening. Ramos, the owner, greeted us and talked us through the menu and Convivio's concept. He told us that they try to cook only with fresh ingredients whenever possible and dissuaded us from ordering a number of items on the menu, as they weren't up to his standards (based on what was available at the market that morning). Finally, upon his suggestion, we all agreed to have a "Chef's Choice" menu. To say we were blown away with the quality and flavours that were served would be an understatement... We ended up having a number of large starters to share, including the burrata with parma ham, octopus, fried squid, and a small fish marinated in lemon juice and vinegar (excellent). The main course (which to be honest we didn't really even need given the amount of food beforehand) was an amazing monkfish in olive oil and garlic. Convivio's food is the business…I can't find anything to fault. Their wine list wasn't voluminous, but it was good. We had originally selected an Tuscan red, but were talked out of this by Ramos in favour of some Spanish reds that we hadn't heard of...each of which were actually cheaper than our original selection. Both bottles were good choices and complemented our food well. This is the kind of service I love: when suggestions by the host are well considered and honest (ie, not out to just make more money by suggesting something expensive). As I mentioned above, as the restaurant wasn't very busy, so we were a