4 years accolade with a one-chef hat in the SMH guide probably means a little more in Canberra than it would in Sydney. I don't even know this restaurant had it until I looked on the website to make a booking. The counter argument is that a one hat standard in Canberra probably wouldn't be so in Sydney, but no matter. It's nice to know which restaurants around are more well regarded in order to test those opinions. It's pretty unusual that I go for a fine dining Italian experience - I'm much more partial to the homestyle cooking in Italy making exception only for truffles. My last fine Italian meal was probably Caffe E Cucina in Melbourne way back in 2003...
I've read some find the service to be not up to standard. It was a little unusual to have 3 different servers - a main one, one that assisted when the main one was attending another table, and another that tended to serve the food. It doesn't bother me at all. Some were more polite than others but none were rude. In any case I'm there for the food and the service is adequate enough not to detract from the experience.
- "Capesante saltati" seared sea scallops, celeriac puree, lemon & caper butter - excellent scallops cooked to perfect interior rareness, well accompanied by salted butter and capers. The puree added some texture but little flavour;
- Pressed quail & proscuitto terrine with pear, witlof & vincotto - very meaty cold slices with nearly undetectable proscuitto lining each layer, contrasted nicely by the sweet and bitter salad;
- Chestnut pappardelle, mushrooms, pecorino romano & truffle oil - truffle oil always makes me a little wary, but thankfully it was only a subtle hint in amongst excellent cheese and mushrooms, with a nutty pasta;
- Wood braised milk fed "capretto", tomato, olive & cannellini beans al uccelleto - nice savoury flavours let down by a generous portion of stringy, slightly dry goat;
- "Piattoni" braised green beans & basil pesto - simple beans with a surprisingly only mild touch of pesto. Could've used more pesto I think;
- Dark chocolate flourless torta, poached kumquats & vanilla bean icecream - dense heavy chocolate slice, delicious sweetened sour fruit and refreshing icecream.
Overall the meal was good with enough flavour satisfaction, a full stomach, but a little room for improvement.
Next time I would order an entree of pizza (which had a lovely fresh scent filling the airspace of the next table), my choice would be puttanesca (anchovies - can't beat that on a pizza) and any of the excellent sounding antipasti dishes. Time your visit with a piatti del giorno that suits your tastes - my choice would probably be rock suckling pig (Tuesday) or beef cheeks (Thursday).
