Venetian restaurant to open in Exeter

Russell Norman and business partner Richard Beatty are set to open Polpo in Exeter's Queen St Dining Quarter next month.

Polpo is modelled on the scruffy wine bars of Venice and feels urban, rustic and stripped back.

Guests enter through a heavy red velvet curtain to find a zinc topped bar and linen-draped lamps. The interiors feature a reclaimed timber floor, rusted tin ceiling and a huge three-metre skylight that floods the restaurant with light. Polpo's trademark deep red leather banquettes line the walls alongside old chemistry lab tables, classic bentwood chairs and antique maps of Venice. 

Following on from the traditions of its sister restaurants, Polpo Exeter is a bacaro.  This is a Venetian word to describe a humble restaurant serving simple food, and good, young northern Italian wines.  

Open all day, signatures on the menu are cicheti such as fried stuffed olives; arancini; and chopped chicken liver crostini (from £3).  Small plates include fritto misto; pizzetta bianca; spicy pork and fennel meatballs; and sliced flank steak (from £4) while the dessert list features affogato al caffe; gelato cone; flourless chocolate and hazelnut cake; and Tiramisu pot (from £4).

Polpo would not be complete without a spritz, and served with both Aperol and Campari, alongside Negronis and Bellinis. There’s also an exclusive All English Martini made with Blackdown’s Vermouth & Gin (both made in Sussex) and garnished with a bay leaf.  The exclusively Italian wine list begins with Polpo's  own label Garganega, Corvina and Prosecco, from £18 per bottle.

Opening hours are noon-11pm Monday to Saturday, noon-10.30pm Sundays and bank holidays. 

Reservations are available between noon and 5pm. After then tables are allocated on a first come, first served basis. Dining at the bar is always available for unreserved to walk-ins.

For more information visit www.polpo.co.uk