What: L’Incontro
Where: 115 Darby Street, Cooks Hill
Prices: Entree $12 to $17 (oysters $17 for six to $34 for 12); pasta and risotto $14 to $28; salads $12; bread $4.50 to $9; mains $27 to $30; desserts $8 to $13
Chef: Chad Bartlett
Wines: Variety of Australian, NZ and Italian wines, many by the glass
Hours: Wednesdays to Mondays, 11am to 3pm, then 6pm to late
Vegetarian: Several vegetarian choices, mainly among the entrees, pasta and risotto
Bookings: 4926 1100
Bottom line: Entree, main, dessert, about $120 for two without drinks
From the street - Darby Street no less - L'Incontro certainly has an immediate allure. The decor is modern, with white cloths and sparkling glassware, which all chimes with the name, meaning the meeting or encounter. This should be a great place to meet and greet and soak up an Italian experience.
Service tonight is a notch up on a previous visit. Tap water and the wine list arrive immediately. There's an interesting selection of wines by the glass, an ideal way to match wines with different dishes, and not go over the limit. The requested wines are served in appropriate glasses and although poured away from the table it is easy to see what is happening at the bar. Not ideal, as it is still impossible to read the label, but OK.
You need to be a speed reader to get through the menu and make a choice before the waiter returns. There are more than 40 offerings with a variety of breads, entrees, pasta and risotto, salads, mains and desserts. And then there's the specials menu with a risotto and three mains. However, the regular menu is different enough from a previous visit to suggest that it is reviewed regularly and features fresh and seasonal ingredients.
Funghi ripieni ($17) is such a substantial entree it would be an ideal vegetarian main. The earthy flavour of the large meaty field mushroom is enhanced by the mixture of ricotta, baby spinach and sun-dried tomato, with peppery notes supplied by a bed of rocket. Smaller cup-shaped mushrooms and a crisp crumb crust could lift this dish to even greater heights.
The pasta and risotto dishes show a marked tendency towards an abundance of creamy sauces but there are lighter entrees. Asparagus with prosciutto ($12) has plump spears wrapped in crisp prosciutto and drizzled with the house aioli. The in-season asparagus is full of flavour and suitably al dente with the crisp prosciutto and the aioli providing salty, creamy and tangy notes.
Vitello involtini ($27) is a well-conceived classical dish. Three tender veal fillets are wrapped around three al dente spears of asparagus with more green vegetables lurking below, in the form of crunchy sugar snap peas. The three chat potatoes are roasted in their skins to golden perfection and the sage brown butter sauce pulls the whole dish together.
The specials menu offers frettolosomente (spatchcock chicken, $27.50). Garlic and rosemary marinade perfumes the crisp skin and the tender, juicy flesh. There's a bed of kumara mash with a fan of lightly grilled, smoky and tender zucchini slices to one side.
Pavlova rotolo (pavlova roll, $8), the panna cotta, the gelato, and the liquorice parfait all tempt, but who can go past the tiramisu ($13)? This is house made and generous, a multi-layered sandwich of creamy mascarpone and Savoiardi biscuits soaked in coffee and Tia Maria.
The macchiato is too long, weak and bitter for my taste. But redemption is at hand. The requested replacement is perfectly executed and provides a fitting finale to a satisfying "incontro".
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