Review: Renoir and Love and Osteria Locatelli
Review: Renoir and Love and Osteria Locatelli
One of autumn’s big blockbusters, Renoir and Love brings together over 40 paintings that celebrate the artist’s gift for showing love and affection in all its various forms. It’s a joyous and uplifting exhibition, with highlights including Renoir’s depiction of Montmartre in ‘Bal au Moulin de la Galette’ from the Musée d’Orsay, and on display in the UK for the first time. In the collection, there are dancing couples, friends meeting and the love of a mother for her child, all showing the Impressionist master at his peak in the 1860s to 1880s.
The paintings have inspired some new dishes at Osteria Locatelli, the gallery’s restaurant by Giorgio and his wife and business partner Plaxy Locatelli, whose destination restaurant Locanda Locatelli closed in 2025 after wowing the capital for 23 years.
We headed there for lunch after the exhibition, starting with refreshing cocktails from the Spritz menu – each named after an artist and ideal for a lunch-time tipple – along with a big hunk of sourdough with olive oil – a portion designed for four but so delicious it was hard to resist eating all of it between the two of us.
Working with head chef Imma Savinelli, Georgio and Plexy have created three new dishes that can be ordered as a set menu or à la carte. Rather than trying to parody a painting in plate form, Georgio has taken the exhibition as broad inspiration and given his interpretation – all reflecting a sense of occasion, food as a convivial social experience, and, of course, love.
We started with a red onion tatin with goat’s cheese mousse and balsamic vinegar – designed for two to share. Delicious light pastry, sweet rich onions – perfectly paired with the goat’s cheese. The dish has been inspired by the painting Bouquet in a Theatre Box (Bouquet dans une loge) with its red colour palette and the idea that Renoir understood how small details could contribute to a larger sense of pleasure.
Next was a saffron risotto with Taleggio fondue and red wine reduction – the rice was cooked perfectly to the bite, as a good risotto should be. It was creamy, delicious with the red wine reduction cutting through nicely. The inspiration for this was Renoir’s Lunch at Restaurant Fournaise (The Rowers’ Lunch) with a group sharing food and wine on the terrace of the Maison Fournaise at Chatou. The idea for the dish came from the tradition of risotto allo zafferano as part of family ritual and sociable eating. The golden colour of the saffron references the golden light in the painting.
A red wine-poached pear with ricotta and almond crumble was the ideal way to finish a lunchtime meal – not too heavy but ending on a sweet note. The inspiration behind this one came from Young Mother (Jeune mère) which conjures feelings of comfort and care – a poached pear in wine is a simple dish rooted in cucina povera and something a mother might have made for her family. Here it’s elevated with a delicious scattering of crumble.
A menu inspired by an art exhibition is an interesting idea, and one that seems to be growing in popularity. It gave us a talking point over lunch – some of the connections between the dishes and the art worked better than others – whatever your views, my plus one and I were in agreement that this was an incredible exhibition and a fantastic lunch. Combining the two makes for the perfect Saturday afternoon. If you take the dishes as a set menu later in the day, it’s also a steal.
Museum restaurants can be difficult spaces – particularly if they sit alongside public areas of the museum, as is the case here with its mezzanine location. They can be a little loud and clattery. But the design at Osteria Locatelli is upscale enough to make it feel like a destination restaurant and not just a museum add-on – while also feeling relaxed enough to welcome anyone who fancies popping in for a quick bite after a gallery visit. And while there was a steady stream of guests on our visit, it didn’t feel hurried, with welcoming staff doing a fine job of managing a busy lunch service.
- The Renoir menu will be available until 31 January at Osteria Locatelli at the National Gallery.
- Dishes are available à la carte, or as part of a set menu offered daily from 3pm to 4.30pm and priced at £25 for two courses or £31 for three courses.
Renoir and Love, Until 31 January 2027
Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery.
£20 (off-peak, Sunday-Thursday)
£25 (Friday and Saturday, and all days in the first two weeks)
Under 18s go free
