Two young Italian businessmen, Nino and Andrea launched their first Veeno Italian Wine Café in Manchester in 2013, soon branching out in Leeds, York, Bristol, Liverpool et al, before opening this summer in Rose Street, Edinburgh.
Inside the rather compact, intimate space, there’s a long bar with high shelves crammed with bottles. The drinking/dining area behind a wire grill partition is furnished with dark wood tables, chairs, stools and an orange sofa along the back wall. The ethos is to re-create the Italian tradition of Aperitivo, when family and friends gather in the late afternoon for a drink and savoury snack – spuntini. Sample regional cheese, olives and breads from Italy and wine from the family’s own Vineyard in Sicily, illustrated by landscape photographs around the Café.