Fast-growing wine café chain Veeno is opening their first London café

Veeno is converting the former Strada restaurant in The Griffin Centre, Kingston-upon-Thames into a wine café, which opens on Thursday, October 26th, with a VIP launch. Kingston-upon-Thames will be the 16th venue in the group.

Speaking to co-founders Nino Caruso & Andrea Zecchino they said "We are extremely excited to open the first franchised site in the Greater London area and this is just the beginning of further expansion ahead in the next 12 months. We believe that this location is the perfect venue to bring our authentic Italian offering and we wish every success to the manager Tom and our franchise partners Derek and Sharon."

Derek and Sharon said “We are hugely excited to be the first Franchisees to bring Veeno to the London Market, in Kingston-Upon-Thames. Veeno is much more than a wine bar or restaurant: it is a unique experience, which has delighted and excited customers in every other market that Veeno serves. We experienced our first taste of Veeno in Manchester, where the Veeno journey began, and have been deeply passionate about the Veeno Experience ever since then. We chose to open in Kingston because it is such a beautiful and vibrant place, steeped in history overlooking the Thames.”

Veeno champions Italy’s after-work culture of drinking, nibbling and relaxing, and specialises in family grown Sicilian wine alongside authentic Spuntini including platters of meats, cheese and other appetisers imported from selected quality Italian producers.

The story began for the company's co-founders Nino Caruso & Andrea Zecchino in 2013 when they met playing a game of football in Manchester, both missed the Italian aperitivo culture of drinking, nibbling and relaxing after work. By the end of the year they had opened their first wine café, and the rest is history or “Il resto e’ storia” as they say in Italy!

Veeno source their wine from Nino’s family vineyard in Marsala, Sicily, where the Caruso family have been growing vines since the 19th century. Having such a close relationship between the vineyard and the wine cafés means that only the best quality wines make it from grape to glass.

Veeno will open its doors at The Griffin Centre, Kingston-upon-Thames at 5pm on Thursday 26th October and are inviting members of the public to join them for the opportunity to sample it’s authentic Italian spuntini by visiting www.theveenocompany.com and joining the guestlist.