Chianti Classico
Continuing up Hutt St. I’m not ordering any wine, so the waiter can’t pair any of the main courses with it. I ask him to pair something with my Diet Coke, and he suggests the spatchcock.
The kind of chutney of semi-crisp eggplant on the crostini is nice, but the brown sauce contains horrifying coriander! Will rate this without coriander.
The little croquette is only slightly warm, and is very crumbly. It’s innards look like mince, but are actually a slightly crispy risotto, with only a slight taste other than the tomato sauce.
Grilled, marinated Clare Valley spatchcock with eggplant caponata, pistaccio di Bronte & ricotta salata.
The chicken is very juicy, and has a very strong rosemary taste. It’s difficult for chunks of meat like this to taste really good, but this one did. The jumble of cold antipasto-style bits, including tomato and basil, was the only other thing on the plate. Whole these components were good in their own right, chicken plus cold antipasto just isn’t an awe-inspiring combination.
Sicilian pistaccio di Bronte & bufala ricotta tart, baked to order & served with roasted rhubarb & sorbetto.
The same problem exists, with the dessert menu, as the last time I came here. Almost every dessert contains alcohol. However, unlike last time, there’s one without alcohol (or vast quantities of coffee.)
I break the walls of the little tart, and the innards flow out. It’s a slightly lemony custard, a taste that goes well with the pistachio nuts. I eat it with the red sauce. It might be some kind of coulis, but it doesn’t add anything here.
The sorbet atop the rhubarb is sweet and chunky, like a Calippo.
The legs of rhubarb are surprising. Not at all sour, and only slightly sweet. They’re very soft. They’re reminiscent of the texture and sweetness of an apricot. Very interesting use of rhubarb.
The savoury ricotta here is just pointless, and is even slightly distasteful in a sweet dessert.