what's on the table right now.
beetroot crudooat tartare sauce · rose
sweet potato dumplingstrás-os-montes couscous · mallow broth
stuffed onionpoached leek cream · miso broth
green skewerscreamy polenta · seed dukkah
lacto-fermented potatoesforest mushrooms · acorn velouté
pintassilgo bean pâtéacorn and chestnut crackers · salsa macha
alt-'choc' brownieblack sesame · poppy seed ice cream
chai cakeorange cheong · rocha pear
confit prickly pearlemon caramel · almond cookiea small room. a seasonal tasting menu.
one tasting menu of four or six courses, about two hours, changed when the farms change: four to eight times a year, sometimes split early and late when a short window is worth catching.
twenty-six seats. open sunday to saturday from 19h. each guest leaves with a card for one ingredient on the menu and the farm it came from. booking ahead is encouraged.
stems, skins, leaves. all of it is dinner.
Monika leads the kitchen at venn: whole vegetables, low-waste technique and a serious respect for the growers behind every ingredient. Her cooking draws on central European food memories and years of work with fermentation and preservation.
“I embrace and enjoy the challenge of recreating the flavours of my childhood using only plant-based ingredients.”
She is from Poland and trained in nutrition at the Medical University of Łódź. In Kraków she was head chef and nutritionist at Shake&Bake. In Antwerp she cooked vegetarian food at Barnini and became head chef of its sister restaurant, Bite Me. In Porto she cooked at Época and ran Supa Zupas, a soup kitchen project with Paula Lopes at Hotelier on Rua de Anselmo Braamcamp.
At venn she built the fermentation programme and the habit of finding a use for every part of a plant. She writes every recipe on the menu, helps track down the heritage grains and beans we cook with, and forages wild plants.
Away from venn she has cooked for festivals and performances in Portugal, Italy, Slovenia and Finland. In 2026 she coordinated the food for BOIL, the climate festival at Serralves, cooked for The Gramounce’s residency in Portugal and completed the Environment and Sustainability programme at MAD Academy in Copenhagen.
“At Venn Canteen, Monika Bloch, a Polish chef, makes vegan comfort food with unexpected smells and flavors. She has magic hands.”
“Her creations are thoughtful, original and full of delightful surprises, crafted with exceptional regional ingredients sourced from trusted local growers.”
green guide“Vegetables take centre stage in a kitchen that favours curiosity over convention.”
pioneer
the rhubarb goes into soda
the stalks are sugared overnight, then made into the shrub in our seasonal soda.
bringing a group?
we take groups of 10 to 30.
give dinner at venn.
a gift card for dinner at venn, sent by email with your name and a line from you.
where a dish comes from, while you are eating it
At dinner each guest gets an oracle card for one ingredient on the menu, and the farm it came from. You can take it home.
This Project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s COSME - SMP programme, via an Open Call issued and executed under project ST3ER (grant agreement No 101121592)
better food systems, built in a restaurant.
for restaurants, hotels and caterers. every method we offer runs in our own kitchen first.
