Med Lahlou and Antonio Matarazzo of the Lalou Group announced the appointment of Matteo Venini as the new executive chef of their award-winning Italian restaurant Lupo Verde, located in the bustling 14th Street neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Venini will also oversee the menu at Lupo Verde’s second location, which is scheduled to open in early December within the residential Palisades neighborhood.

A native of Lake Como, Italy, Venini brings many years of experience working at restaurants Washington, DC and Italy to his new position.  =Most recently, Matteo Venini served for a year and a half as executive chef of the notable Italian restaurant, Tosca, in Washington, D.C. He began his career in the U.S. working at Tosca a decade ago, joining the restaurant as a pastry chef. After two years he was promoted to be part of the opening culinary team at Posto in 2008 before returning to Tosca to lead the kitchen there.

One will find 90 percent of the menu at Lupo Verde updated with Matteo Venini’s arrival and new seasonal dishes are being introduced on the menu, such as the Braised Short Ribs with red wine, celery, carrots, onion, dark chocolate and fresh herbs, a family recipe from Italy. Venini’s family owned a butcher shop in Italy that had a large cheese counter so he also plans to focus on Lupo Verde's Italian cheeses with 25 to 30 choices available. Other new additions to the fall menu include Cappellacci Pasta stuffed with roasted butternut squash, ricotta salata, fresh ricotta, golden raisins, sage and amaretto cookies in a brown butter garlic sage sauce; Pan-Roasted Scallops with fennel, grilled royal trumpet mushroom, carrot coulis and charred onion, as well as Chocolate Amaretto Cookie Custard with roasted pears and Italian meringue.