Vespa Pizza

Unfortunately I don't get to write about many pizza places in Brisbane, because pizza is one of those things that was cruelly taken away from me when I found out I had coeliac disease (cue sad music).

Over the last couple of years though I've been perfecting a thin, crispy, gluten-free pizza base at home, but I've had a lot of trouble finding a good one out in the restaurant world. I suspect the main problem is that while a few restaurants around the place are now serving gluten-free pizza bases, the people preparing them don't eat the finished product on a regular basis, so the usual quality controls may slip by the wayside. The main disappointment, after trying plenty of gluten free bases, is that they tend to go really soggy. From my experience at home, the trick to a good gluten free base is pre-cooking it first, so it's on the way to getting crispy, then top with only a few ingredients and cook at a high heat. One day I'll remember to post up a recipe for my gluten free capricciosa pizza.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, one of my readers recommended Vespa Pizza at New Farm. We popped in a couple of weekends ago to give their pizzas a try. Vespa Pizza is right next door to Tandoori King (my current favourite Indian restaurant) on Merthyr Road.

We arrived at 7pm, which is a bit early for dinner in my book, but now we have a 3 month old daughter we don't get a lot of say in dinner time. Even though it was early, the place was packed. The tables out the front were full, the tables inside were almost full, and all the tables along the side courtyard area were also full. That's usually a good sign.

We were shown to a table in the side courtyard. It was pretty dark, except for the fairy light on the table - it would be the perfect table for a big date. I was immediately attracted to the Moroccan-style lamp on the side wall. On our trip to Morocco I was desperate to buy a Moroccan light shade, but had no idea how to get it back to Australia. Luckily our daughter was equally as transfixed by the light shade, which kept her entertained for most of our meal.

After having a look at their menu online, Vespa sounded like my kind of pizza place. Call me traditional, but I'm really not a fan of lamb shanks, Moroccan chicken and/or satay sauce on pizza - when it comes to pizza, I like them simple.

We didn't have a lot of time, so we weren't really interested in starters. But if you get to your table early, waiting for late arrivals, there are some tasty sounding entrees, including basil, diced vine tomatoes, buffalo feta and olive oil bruschetta ($8.50), crispy polenta pieces with rosemary and garlic aioli ($7) and marinated artichokes with fennel, mint and basil ($11).

We went straight for the pizzas. There are 20 to choose from, most of which only contain a few toppings. I fairly quickly narrowed it down to capricciosa (my favourite all-time pizza - pancetta, salami, olives, mushrooms, anchovies, red peppers - $19), suppresed (sopressa with tomato, olives and chilli - $18.50), pancetta and buffalo feta with rosemary and cracked pepper ($18.50) and salami and mushroom with basil, mozzarella and truffle oil ($18.50). I was in one of my "try something different" moods, so I went for the pizza bianco instead (pancetta, olives, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, capers, sea salt and fior di latte cheese - $19.50).

There's also a good range of pizzas to choose from if you're vegetarian (as you'd expect from a traditional pizzeria) including margherita (semi dried roma tomatoes with fior di latte cheese and fresh basil leaves - $18.50), mushroom ragout with spinach and feta ($19.50) and carciofi (artichoke hearts, buffalo feta, oven dried cherry tomatoes and rosemary - $19.50).

We thought we'd order a salad as well, just for a bit of variety, and the Caprese style salad took our fancy (vine tomatoes, fior di latte cheese, torn basil and olive oil - $12.50).

Although we had to ask a couple of times for our bottle of water to show up, the pizzas didn't take long to arrive. My pizza arrived first. Even though it had a gluten free base, it was thin and really crispy around the edges. They hadn't managed to get the crispiness through the whole base (if I was to be very picky) but it was probably the best gluten free base I've eaten at a restaurant. As for the toppings, they were excellent. Forget the Pizza Hut "load it up with 5 centimetres of toppings" - this pizza featured a few well chosen toppings, sparingly spread over the base. The white pizza (pizza bianco) meant there was no tomato sauce on the base, which again helped the flavour of the toppings to shine. I thought the capers might overwhelm the rest of the toppings, but they turned out to be tiny little ones, and everything worked together remarkably well. I managed to eat all but the last piece - it would have been rude to let such a good pizza go to waste.

My wife had ordered the carciofi pizza, which also turned out to be very tasty. There was a good, thin base which was perfectly crispy. The buffalo feta was apparently the star of the pizza, but worked well with the artichoke, cherry tomatoes and rosemary.

Our salad turned out to be very good, matching the quality of the pizzas. Forget thin slices of tomato & cheese that you usually come across with a Caprese salad - this one had huge big chunks of fior di latte cheese and equally large chunks of ripe tomatoes. There were plenty of basil leaves, either torn or cut into tiny bits. It was another reminder as to how good a simple salad can taste when it only contains top ingredients.

There is a very compact wine list, which features Italian wines and varietals. It was a fairly warm night, so I went with a glass of the Tuesner Salsa rose ($8.50/glass). Luckily it had a good level of acidity, which really helped with the strong Italian flavours on the pizza. Keeping with the Italian feel of the night, my wife ordered a San Pellegrino pompelmo soft drink ($3.50).

Other than having to ask for water a couple of times, our waitress was very friendly and unobtrusive. Our orders were taken quickly, and the pizzas were out within half an hour - good service all round.

I will definitely be back to Vespa Pizza to explore the rest of the menu. In these days where fast food places pile more and more tasteless toppings onto pizza, it's good to see that there are still restaurants like Vespa that concentrate on quality. If (like me) you're on a gluten free diet, put Vespa on your must visit list.

Sorry there are no photos, but our table was too dark for me to get any decent ones.

What does all this mean? Delicious, thin, crispy pizzas which each focus on a few high quality ingredients. A must visit if you're looking for good gluten-free pizza.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Good
Ambience - Casual, with seats out the front, inside and along the side
Vegetarian - Good
Wine - Compact selection, but pizza friendly
Value for Money - Good
Gluten Free - Great

Vespa Pizza
148 Merthyr Road
New Farm 4005
P - 07 3358 4100
W - http://www.vespapizza.com.au/

Zafron

After trying to eat at Zafron one night only to find the place full, I learnt my lesson and booked ahead to make sure it didn't happen again. Zafron is on Brunswick Street at New Farm, basically across the road from the old Village Twin cinema. Zafron is a Persian/Mediterranean restaurant, which means there is a wide selection of food on the menu.

As you walk in there are tables on the deck at the front, but the tables inside have a bit more atmosphere, especially because you can look at the enormous grill at the back of the room. I wouldn't want to be sitting at the table next to it, but it does look impressive. We sat in a booth type table on one side of the room. Although we'd booked for 4 people, it was a real squeeze fitting all our food on the table during the night.

There are some terrific starters at Zafron. We ordered one of the tapas shared plates for $25. The tapas plate had dolme (vine leaves stuffed with lamb & beef mince, split peas, rice, walnuts, blackcurrants and herbs), eggplant rolls (charred eggplant slices rolled with semi dried tomatoes, herbs & feta), kashki-badem-joon (lamb & eggplant slow cooked with goat's yoghurt & mint) and triangles of filo pastry stuffed with spinach, feta and pine nuts. The platter was delicious (the eggplant rolls and kashki-badem-joon were the winners), and a perfect way to start the night - I love having lots of little tasting dishes as an entree.

If you'd rather start the night off with dips, try the Mediterranean dip platter ($15) or the Persian dip platter ($15), each of which is served with three different dips, Turkish bread and fried lavash crisps.

Although it took me a while to pick a main course (there were a few that stood out), I eventually settled on their house specialty, the chello kebab ($28). These were chicken & lamb kebabs marinated with saffron, yoghurt & herbs and then char grilled on the Turkish barbeque. The kebabs were served with saffron rice, Persian yoghurt and a little salad. The kebabs were delicious, and the Persian yoghurt was a great accompaniment to both the lamb and chicken.

I also tried the Caspian chicken ($26), described on the menu as the chef's Persian nouveau signature dish. The Caspian chicken was a chicken fillet coated in pomegranate nectar and crushed roasted pinenuts which had been pan fried, then baked. It was served with a creamy saffron sauce, caramelised carrots and baby spinach. The Caspian chicken looked great, but I found it very rich - I wasn't convinced that the tangy pomegranate flavour gelled with the creamy saffron sauce.

Service during the night was friendly and generally attentive. At one stage our tiny table had so much food on it that the waitress ended up putting a bottle of water on the floor next to the table, because there was no room left. You can BYO wine, and corkage is $6 per bottle.

There is a good selection of meals for vegetarians, and gluten free meals are clearly marked on the menu (which was great for me).

Overall, Zafron is a great place to visit with a few friends, to try food that you don't come across in Brisbane very often. The entrees are particularly good - I'd be more than happy just to spend the night grazing on loads of the shared platters.

What does all this mean? A great range of tasty Persian & Mediterranean food, with excellent entrees to share around the table.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Good
Ambience - Persian decorations inside, with a giant Turkish BBQ
Value for Money - Good
Wine - BYO
Vegetarian - Great
Gluten Free - Good selection

Zafron
7/726 Brunswick Street
New Farm 4005
P - 07 3358 2655
W - http://www.zafrononbrunswick.com/

Fieritalia

For the chance to enjoy all things Italian in Brisbane, head along to Fieritalia in New Farm Park on Sunday, 18 October 2009.

The festival will feature loads of Italian themed activities during the day, including a market day, wine tasting, Italian beer garden, grape stomping competitions, music, Italian cooking demonstrations, Venetian face painting and Italian food stalls.

Entry is $5 and you can find out more details for the day on the Fieritalia website.

Fieritalia
Sunday 18 October 2009, 10am to 5pm
New Farm Park
Corner Brunswick and Sydney Streets
New Farm  4005
W - http://www.fieritalia.org/

Verve Cafe

A couple of weeks ago I had lunch at Verve Cafe with a few work buddies. Over the years I must have walked past Verve Cafe hundreds and hundreds of times. I even worked as a volunteer in the Metro Arts building for a few years. But I'd never eaten at Verve Cafe.

The first trick was actually getting a booking, which turned out to be harder than expected. We had to postpone our lunch a couple of weeks because the restaurant was booked out the first time (it was Friday lunch after all). Eventually we got a booking and wandered down the steps looking for a good lunch and a few bottles of wine.

The first thing that hits you when you get to the bottom of the stairs and into the restaurant is just how dark it is. The next thing you'll probably notice is the noise. Then you look around and realise that the whole place looks pretty cool, and soon enough you'll adjust and completely forget that its either dark or noisy. The restaurant really has the feel of an Italian trattoria. And it was packed. No wonder it was hard to get a booking.

We were quickly shown to our table by a friendly waiter, and the menus were handed out. There aren't a lot of choices for entrees - most people were getting stuck into one of the breads. If it's bread your after, you can choose from herb bread ($4.90), pan bread (kalamata olive, sea salt, basil & bocconcini - $4.90), olive tapenade (smashed kalamata olives, virgin oil, garlic with toasted pan bread - $4.90) or the dips plate (chef’s selection of dips with fresh baked pita bread - $9.90).

If bread just isn't your bag, then kick off the meal with the soup of the day ($8.90), mushrooms filled with rosemary and roast capsicum risotto ($10.90) or the calamari salad (pan fried with olive oil, garlic and lemon on a thyme, roast capsicum & green salad - $14.90).

We decided against ordering any starters and opted for a bottle of wine instead, in true Friday lunch fashion. But within a few minutes a plate of bread arrived on the table. After checking with the waitress, we were told it was complementary. Things were going well at this stage.

There are plenty of mains to choose from. The food at Verve Cafe is mainly Italian, but with modern flavours, so its no surprise to see the main courses covering pasta, risotto, pizza and a few other "plates".

The first thing I noticed on the menu was that there was an option to order any of the pizzas or pastas gluten free. Our bubbly waitress told me that she was also on a gluten free diet and that the pizza bases were great. By that point I was sold and I ordered the excitingly named "ham" pizza, topped with salami, ham, olives, mushroom and mozzarella ($17.90 with a gluten free base). They are pretty much my favourite pizza toppings, so I was happy. Other pizza options include roast pumpkin with pine nuts, sun-dried tomato, English spinach, pesto, caramelised onion and mozzarella ($15.90), chicken with marinated feta, roast capsicum, caramelised onion, thyme and mozzarella ($15.90) and of course a margarita with tomato, basil and mozzarella ($15.90).

The rest of our table all ordered the pescatore linguini, served with scallops, prawns, roasted bell peppers, kalamata olives, fresh basil and an olive oil base ($20.90). I was thinking about ordering the same dish, but had to try something different.

Other mains that caught my eye were the goat's cheese gnocchi (roast pumpkin, chicken, fresh rosemary, goat's cheese and cream - $19.90), the sand crab & prawn risotto (diced Roma tomato, zest of lemon, fresh thyme and cream - $20.90) and the blue cheese risotto (pancetta, chicken, cream, white wine, fresh rosemary and olives - $18.90). They will have to wait until next time.

My pizza was good. Thankfully it had a nice crispy base. So many gluten free pizzas are served on soggy, floury bases that resemble a pikelet more than a pizza. It wasn't overloaded with toppings, which meant that you could actually taste everything that was on the pizza. The pizza wasn't enormous, but I just managed to finish off all four pieces.

The verdict on the pescatore linguini was that it was tasty, but had a tad too much garlic. There was plenty of seafood with the pasta, so there were no complaints on that front. I didn't get to try any, but the pasta smelt delicious.

The wine list at Verve Cafe is pretty compact, but extremely well priced. We had a few bottles of the Hazard Hill semillon sauvignon blanc with lunch, which was about $30 a bottle. There is plenty to choose from at around that price point, so a few bottles of wine here won't break the bank.

Throughout the meal our service was excellent and particularly friendly. The waiters knew the menu well and always seemed to pop up at the right time.

Verve Cafe is an excellent place for a weekday lunch. The food was good, tasty and fresh. Although the place was very busy, we hardly waited for our meals and were never left feeling neglected by the staff. It's always great to come across a place like Verve Cafe. If only there were more places in the CBD like it to enjoy a relaxing lunch with friends.

What does all this mean? Tasty modern Italian food in cool, dark surroundings at very reasonable prices.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Great
Ambience - A dark, downstairs room with plenty of atmosphere
Value for Money - Great
Wine - Compact selection at good prices
Vegetarian - Good
Gluten Free - Great

Verve Cafe
Basement, 109 Edward Street
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3221 5691
W - http://www.vervecafe.com.au/

Euro 2008 - Croatia

Next up, it's Croatia. Croatia are off to a good start, with a 1-0 win over Austria the other night. Unless something goes pretty wrong in the next couple of games, I expect to see Croatia get through the first group stage.

When I think of Croatian food, I remember the fantastic seafood I had in Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is a pretty amazing place if you ever get the chance to go there. The other thing I remember about Croatia is their excellent beer (or pivo if you're in Croatia).

If you're looking for somewhere to celebrate a big win by the Croatian boys, or just want to try something a bit different, head to Misho's at Taringa. Misho's was a popular place to eat at Ashgrove for years and years, and has recently moved to Taringa. The menu at Misho's includes seafood buzara (scallops, prawns, mussels and fish, poached in champagne with lemon and olive oil - $17), snails cooked in grape brandy, wine and creamy garlic sauce, served on toast ($15), beef pasticada (beef larded with bacon, garlic and carrots, poached in red wine vinegar and port, served with fried gnocchi - $28) or monkfish and strudel (baked monkfish medallions served with prawn and dill strudel on tomato coulis - $32).

I've never made it to Misho's before, but the menu sure sounds tempting. I'm adding it to my never-ending list of places to try out. Misho's is open for lunch and dinner. It's BYO wine only, with a $2 per person corkage charge.

Restaurant Misho's

Shop 1, 186 Moggill Road

Taringa 4068

P - 07 3870 2255

E - eat@mishos.com.au

W - http://www.mishos.com.au/

Cafe Fuscia

I should start this post by letting you know that when it comes to pizza, as far as I'm concerned, less is more. Give me a thin, crisp base, with a couple of quality toppings and some good mozzarella, and I'm in pizza heaven (especially if there's a bottle of good Italian red on the table).

The zenith of my pizza world was found a couple of years ago in Naples. After wandering around some very dodgy parts of the city, we eventually found Da Michele, one of the most traditional Neapolitan pizzerias. Da Michele has been there for over a 100 years, and only serves two types of pizza - marinara and margherita (click here for a photo). Sure it sounds simple, but I could have stayed there all night, eating their amazing pizza and nattering on to the various strangers from all over the world who share your table, also in search of the ultimate pizza experience.

Luckily I found Da Michele before I my coeliac days, so the taste of its amazing pizza will be forever burnt into my tastebuds. Now I'm limited to a smattering of places that serve gluten free pizza, which brings me to Cafe Fuscia. I've already done a post about Cafe Fuscia, but it also happens to be the closest place that sells gluten free pizza. Not just any gluten free pizza, but good gluten free pizza, which can be very hard to find.

However, Cafe Fuscia's pizza menu isn't really one for traditionalists. The chefs at Da Michele probably wouldn't know where to start when faced with a menu that included Turkish (hommus, feta & roast pumpkin topped with lamb meatballs & a Moroccan sauce on a Turkish pizza base - $17), tandoori (chicken breast, mango chutney, cashews, snow peas & onion, drizzled with a mild tandoori sauce and minted yoghurt - $19) or Bali hai pizza (chicken breast with capsicum, onion, pineapple, spinach, snow peas and roasted cashews topped with satay sauce - $19).

After wading my way through these more modern takes on pizza, I eventually took the plunge with the five star beef (grain fed wagyu beef rump, mushrooms, roasted caramelised eschallots & baby spinach with a cracked pepper béarnaise - $22.90 with a gluten free base). This pizza was apparently crowned Queensland's best meat pizza in 2005, and after a couple of bites I could certainly see its merit.

As much as I'm not usually a fan of this take on pizza, it was pretty good. The beef was tender and tasty, the eschallots lovely and sweet, with the bearnaise as the perfect accompaniment. It was also a good, crunchy gluten free base. It was hard work to finish it off though - this is more like a meal on a pizza.

We also ordered one of the Mediterranean vegetarian pizzas without the olives or capsicum (eggplant, mushrooms, onion, feta & baby spinach - $18). Again this was a great, tasty pizza, with delicious mushrooms and grilled eggplant.

So if you're looking for a modern twist on a pizza, then Cafe Fuscia has twists a plenty. You can either take your pizza home, or bring along your favourite bottle of Chianti and eat in, as the restaurant is BYO. But if you're looking for a great, traditional margherita, whisk yourself off to Da Michele instead.

Cafe Fuscia
Corner of Audrey & Wardell Street
Enoggera 4051
P - 07 3355 9800
W - http://www.fuscia.com.au/

Il Centro

I think its fair to say that Il Centro is one of Brisbane's iconic restaurants. It's been at the Eagle Street Pier in the City since 1992 and is still going strong. Il Centro is incredibly popular with the business crowd - walk past at lunch time almost any day of the week and you'll find it full.

Although Il Centro is through and through an Italian eatery, it has a definite Queensland focus. All through the menu you'll find crab, barramundi, Moreton Bay bugs, king prawns and even crocodile.

It's also a perfect spot for lunch because of the great view out over the river through to the Story Bridge. The combination of the great view and the Queensland ingredients are also popular with tourists.

Every time I eat here, I always find it hard to choose from the terrific menu. The entree menu itself is pretty wide extensive. It covers a range of breads, pizza, soup, Moreton Bay bugs, oysters, scallops, crocodile, gnocchi and carpaccio. Starters which sounded good were the fantasia di granseola (a seafood selection of fresh crab and avocado salad with tomato gazpacho, crisp soft shell crab with fennel salad and salsa verde, and the renowned sandcrab lasagne - $23.50 per person), the sauteed scallops with lime carnaroli risotto, asparagus, prosciutto and tarragon jus ($22.50) and the char grilled Moreton Bay bugs, cauliflower with vanilla bean and baby cos salad, lemon aioli ($28). As good as all of those options sounded, there was a sandcrab and asparagus salad on the specials board, which was exactly what I felt like to kick off the meal. Our excellent waitress described this dish perfectly - layers of iceberg lettuce, chunks of avocado and lots of beautifully sweet sand crab. This was the perfect elevation of a couple of fairly simple, but high quality ingredients into an excellent dish.

By now the place was pretty much full with a big lunch crowd, but that didn't slow down the service of our mains, which came out after a perfect pause between courses.

There are also plenty of mains to choose from. A number of the entrees can be served as either starters or mains, so if there are a couple of entrees that take your fancy, then you can have them both.

First of all there is Il Centro's famous sandrab lasagne ($34). This dish was created by Gillian Hirst and has been a staple of the menu for years. It is a beautiful dish, but be warned, it's also very rich. You may find that the entree sized portion a bit more manageable. By the way, if you are a big fan of Gillian Hirst's sandcrab lasagne, you can now buy an eat at home version from a selection of good food stores around Brisbane - you can find more details here.

If you've already tried the sancrab lasagne, there are of course plenty of other options. If you aren't looking for seafood, there is also chicken, duck, veal, kangaroo, beef and lamb. I was tempted by the marinated kangaroo striploin with desiree mash, braised lettuce and pancetta, mustard fruits and red wine jus ($31.50) and the selection of Queensland seafood with saffron risotto, tossed with tomato and a touch of chilli ($37.50).

In the end, I decided to order the grilled North Queensland barramundi with desiree potato mash, new season asparagus and balsamic jus ($36.50). The barramundi was perfectly cooked, the crispy skin on the bottom of the fillet contrasting with the delicate flesh of the fish. Again, this was not an overworked dish, and allowed the flavour of each of its components to shine through.

The wine list complements the Italian food, and there are plenty of good whites to match with your seafood. It's also fairly reasonably priced, given its location and views over the river.

The other thing which has always been a constant at Il Centro is the excellent service. I've always found the staff here to be very knowledgeable, approachable, efficient and friendly. Our service on this visit was up to the usual standard. Although I thought our service might have been a tad overly business-like today, that's probably just a reflection of the customers who fill the place day after day at lunchtime.

Il Centro is not a destination for cutting edge culinary adventures. But if you want excellent Italian food or seafood, cooked with beautiful ingredients and teamed with excellent service, then it's hard to go wrong at Il Centro.

What does all this mean? Top notch Italian food, with a focus on Queensland produce

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Top Shelf
Ambience - Smart surroundings with a great view out over the Brisbane river
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Good
Vegetarian - OK

Il Centro
Eagle Street Pier
Eagle Street
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3221 6090
E - admin@il-centro.com.au
W - http://www.il-centro.com.au/

The Press Club

"Food is family, family is life, life is everything". That's George Calombaris' outlook on things, and it sounds on the money to me.

Every now and again we escape Brisbane and get to graze at some great places. We organised our last trip to Melbourne around dinner at The Press Club, where George Calombaris' food has been receiving rave reviews.

The first thing we noticed was how busy the room was. It was 8pm on a Sunday night and the place was packed. It was a wide selection of diners - young people, families, children, you name it. Always a good sign.

The other thing that really stood out was the service. Throughout the meal, the service was friendly, professional, knowledgeable and only there when you needed it. When we made our booking we were asked if we had any special dietary requests. I'm a coeliac but don't usually make too much of a fuss about gluten free food at restaurants as good as this one. However I was absolutely amazed when our waitress brought the bread out at the start of the night, only to tell me that the gluten free bread was being warmed and would be out in a minute. It's never happened to me before, and will stick in my mind for a long time. Little touches like that can transform a good night into a great one.

Happily munching on my crumbly gluten free bread while dipping it in some great olive oil (which is a good experience) we then had to make a few choices off the menu.

There are plenty of options when it comes to food at The Press Club. The menu is split up into orektika (small dishes - $19.90 to $24.90), kyria (large dishes - $34 to $39), synotheftika (side dishes - $9 - including the obligatory lemon potatoes), glyka (sweets - $17.90 to $21) and cheese ($11 to $24). If you'd rather leave what you're eating in the hands of the chef, then there is also the kerasma or tasting option, ranging from $65 for 4 courses to $82 for 6 courses. You'd have to be pretty fussy not to find something that takes your fancy here.

Time to order. First of all, I have to apologise that some of the items we had are not currently on the menu, so if I don't get the description right, please forgive me.

I started off with a crab and watermelon "sandwich" ($21.90). I can't recall if it was described as a sandwich on the menu, but that's what it looked like. Beautiful slices of pink crunchy watermelon took the place of bread, with tasty, delicate crab as the filling. This was one of the best, and most innovative, starters that I have had for a long time. It really was a fantastic way to kick off the night.

My dining partner had the beetroot salad ($17.90) as a starter. This was served as chunks of beetroot, with a spiced pistachio tower, soft feta and micro herbs. Again, this salad got rave reviews. Beautiful flavours, which complemented each other perfectly. Things were looking good.

On to mains. I didn't find anything on the main menu which jumped off the page as much as the crab and watermelon sandwich. After much debating, I went for the yoghurt braised neck of lamb with olive oil pomme puree ($36). Although it was tasty, it lacked the wow factor of my starter. Perhaps I should have gone with the "hot off the press" lamb spit with white bean skordalia, lemon potatoes and marouli salad ($37). To criticise the lamb neck in any way would be wrong, it was beautifully tender, it just lacked that extra special quality that I had been hoping for. We also had the raviolo of peppered fig ($18.90), a vegetarian dish, which was excellent.

We certainly weren't leaving a Greek restaurant without having some sweets. There are some great ones to choose from. We thought about going for the selection of dessert mezedes, but decided against it. Instead we ordered the "breakfast at Santorini" ($17.90) which tasted as good as it sounds. Great, tangy, flavours with lemon curd and yoghurt sorbet. I had the Chios mastic panacotta ($17.90) served with marinated strawberries. I've never had mastic before, but this was a great way to end the night. Whatever you do, make sure you leave room for sweets, as there are some fantastic (and unusual) options at the Press Club.

Another great thing about the Press Club is the Greek wine on offer. I enjoyed some great wine in Greece, but it seems to be very hard to find a decent selection of Greek wine in Brisbane. The wine list here is really impressive and has been put together after a lot of time and thought.

During the night we had glasses of the Kir-yianni ‘Petra’ roditis (white) 2006 from Naoussa ($12), Gaia agiorgitiko (red) 2005 ($12.50), Kir-Yianni ‘Paranga’ xinomauvro, merlot, shiraz blend 2005 ($11.50) and the fabulous dessert wines from Samos, ranging in vintages from 2000 to 2005. I've never had a Greek dessert wine before, but these were the perfect way to end the evening. I was draining my glass for every last drip. By the way, our dessert wines were served in cool Riedel "O" series glasses. I was impressed.

If you're not a fan of Greek wine, there are lots of other options. In fact the drinks menu runs for 27 pages and includes Greek beers (Alpha, Mythos and Vergina), a good selection of Ouzo, cocktails and plenty more.

It's hard not to enjoy a night at the Press Club. Beautiful flavours, brilliant service and a terrific wine list round out a great place to spend the evening. Not only that, but it all comes in a relaxed, fun surroundings. Make sure you give it a try next time you are in Melbourne. Be warned though, it's popular, and you'll need to book.

What does all this mean? Excellent modern Greek food, brilliant service and a wine list that will keep you drinking all night.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Top Shelf
Ambience - Modern, relaxed surroundings
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Top Shelf
Vegetarian - Good
Gluten Free - Good

The Press Club
72 Flinders Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
P - 03 9677 9677
E - admin@thepressclub.com.au
W - http://www.thepressclub.com.au/

Vil'laggio

Vil'laggio is an Italian eatery right next door to Anise on Brunswick Street in New Farm.

When entering Vil'laggio on a Friday night, the first thing that hit me was how busy the place was. The room was buzzing with plenty of people, and the flavours wafting around were terrific.
We were shown straight to our table and given menus and glasses of water straight away, which is always a good start in my book.

I hadn't eaten here before, at least not since it's been Vil'laggio. Vil'laggio now occupies the spot where Indigo's once was. Indigo's was set up by Gillian Hirst, and was one of my favourite spots for a dependably good dinner in New Farm.

Back to Vil'laggio though. Vil'laggio is Italian through and through, aiming to serve up home style, traditional Italian food, including wood fired pizzas. The starters on the menu cover breads (tomato, basil, boccocini & mozzarella bruschetta - $10.95, homemade bread with artichoke, cumin, black olives and rocket, served with a spicy tomato sauce - $11.95 or wood roasted eggplant, tomato, parmesan, fresh basil and boccocini on crusty bread with rocket - $14.95), prosciutto with deep fried ricotta & rocket ($14.95), antipasto ($17.95) and fritto misto di pesce if you are looking for some seafood ($18.95).

It was raining and miserable outside, so we decided to skip the starters and save room for dessert. In hindsight, that didn't turn out to be a good decision, but more on that later.

So it was straight on to main course. There were plenty of things that caught my attention on the menu here. There is a good selection of pasta and risotto ($21.95 to $26.95), traditional Italian mains ($30.95 to $32.95) and wood fired pizzas ($10.95 to $26.95 depending on size).

A couple of the traditional mains jumped off the menu at me. One was the porchetta arrosto su verza brasata con pancetta uvetta e pinoli in salsa di fondo, or wood roasted pork belly, rolled with Italian spices and fresh herbs on sautéed cabbage, pancetta, sultanas and pine nuts with roast potato and vegetable gravy ($31.95). The other was the agnello grigliato su polenta al gorgonzola, or char grilled lamb shoulder medallions on baked polenta with gorgonzola, marinated wood roasted capsicum, garlic and lime, finished with a veal jus ($31.95).

After much debating, I opted for the roast pork, which was fantastic. First of all, it was an enormous serving - slices of the pork, edged with good crackling, sitting on top of gravy covered cabbage, pancetta and roast potato. Although I'm usually not a fan of sultanas in savoury cooking, they fitted in perfectly with the other ingredients. The whole dish worked together beautifully, and it was the perfect hearty dinner for a cold, rainy and windy night. As hungry as I was though, and as good as this dish tasted, I still couldn't finish it.

Our other main was the ravioli di zucca al burro e salvia con pancetta e noci, or pumpkin and feta ravioli in butter, sage, walnuts and crispy pancetta ($24.95). We had the vegetarian version, without the pancetta. Again, this was a generous serving of ravioli. The pasta filling was deliciously tasty, as was the sauce with which it was served. However, 3 or 4 of the fairly large sized ravioli had not been fully cooked, to the extent that the unfilled edges of the pasta were difficult to cut with a knife, let alone chew. That was easily fixed by just cutting off the chewy parts, but its always a bit disappointing to be served obviously undercooked pasta.

We had also ordered a salad of shaved fennel, rocket and parmesan in a balsamic dressing ($7.95) which turned out to be completely unnecessary, given the size of the mains. However it made a nice contrast to both our main meals, and we made a good dent in this simple but sharp and crunchy salad.

At this stage, the service, which had been friendly and spot on, went downhill. Once our mains had been cleared, we sat at our table, with no drinks for 25 minutes, without being even approached by a waiter. We eventually grabbed a waiter and ordered dessert. Although the room had been very busy, by this stage of the evening the room had thinned out, so it was strange that the good level of service fell away.

Unfortunately, the desserts were not worth the long wait. The cannoli ($12.95), apparently the house specialty, was particularly disappointing. Each cannoli was soggy and chewy, lacking the good crunch we had been expecting. They were also served with some pretty average quality vanilla ice cream. Not the way we had hoped to end the meal. I had the white chocolate pannacotta ($10.95), which was ok, but didn't have the good wobbly, custardy consistency that I enjoy in a good pannacotta.

The wine list is fairly compact, but does have a range of both Italian and Australian options. It is also very reasonably priced. We were just drinking wines by the glass, which were brought to the table in glasses, already pre-poured. As someone who particularly enjoys wine, I always prefer for wines to be poured at the table, so that you can always be sure that you are in fact being served what you ordered. Personally I don't think it's that difficult to do and it does make an impression on the customers. However I've noticed more and more restaurants in Brisbane now bringing out pre-poured wine glasses to the table, which is a shame. Vil'laggio's wine list also gets a special mention for including a number of Queensland wines. It's very good to see a busy restaurant such as Vil'laggio supporting the Queensland wine industry.

I haven't yet mentioned the pizzas. We didn't order one, but saw plenty of them being brought out to other diners. They all looked pretty tasty, and include margherita, Siciliana, capricciosa and quattro formaggi. We'll have to try them another time.

Vil'laggio was almost full the night we were there, so it obviously has a fairly solid following. The tastiness of our main meals backs that up. Unfortunately the service and the desserts meant that our night didn't end on the same high note. We eventually left Vil'laggio after 2 and a half hours, having only eaten a main course and dessert each, and only 3 glasses of wine between the two of us. If they can pick up their service and quality of desserts, Vil'laggio would become a very solid traditional Italian establishment.

What does all this mean? Tasty, traditional Italian food, but with variable service.

food bling ratings
Food - OK
Service - OK
Ambience - Busy, modern surroundings. Can be a bit noisy inside.
Value for Money - Good
Wine - OK
Vegetarian - Good

Vil'laggio
695 Brunswick Street
New Farm 4005
P - 07 3254 0275
W - http://www.villaggioristorante.com.au/

Wild Pepper

Wild Pepper is a pizzeria in the busy strip of restaurants on Hardgrave Road at West End.

There are tables inside and out. If there are large tables of hungry pizza eaters, like on the night we were there, inside can get a bit noisy. So if you are there for a quiet night for 2, sitting outside might be the better bet. The surroundings are modern, clean and casual.

To kick off your meal, try one of the pizza breads - herb, chilli, jalapeno, pesto or garlic - which are all $10.

We gave the starters a miss, and went straight to the pizzas. There are a good selection of vegetarian, meat and seafood pizzas. If you are looking for a more traditional Italian pizza, then go for the "Margarita" (no its not a cocktail, its a Margherita) with tomatoes, basil and parmesan, at $9 for a small, $12 for a medium or $15 for a large, or a Pepperoni with pepperoni, green capsicum and chilli at $10/$13/$16.

If you're not one for traditional Italian toppings and are looking for something a bit different, you won't be disappointed. Try the "David's own" with red kidney beans, salsa jalapeno chili, guacamole, sour cream and cherry tomatoes at $14/$17/$20 or the Roast Chicken with chicken, roasted pumpkin, feta, pine nuts, spinach and harissa at $15/$18/$21.

Aside from the standard menu, there were also two special pizzas available on the night we were there. Unfortunately, we didn't see the blackboard until we were walking out (and weren't told about them when ordering) so we missed out on those.

Best of all, they offer all their pizzas with gluten free bases for all those Coeliacs out there. Although the gluten free bases aren't as crisp and thin as a real pizza, its great to be able to order any pizza off the menu. Gluten free pizzas only come in one size, and are charged at the large pizza price.

I went for half an "Oscar Wild" (Italian sausage, caramelized onion and parmesan) and half a Chilli Prawn (prawns, basil and chilli). Both halves were really tasty, topped with fresh ingredients. The Oscar Wild was particularly good - the salty sausage, sweet caramelised onion and tangy parmesan combining well. We also had a small Margherita, which was excellent. Simple, but crisp and tasty. Sometimes its hard to go past a good Margherita.

There are also salads on the menu. We ordered the pumpkin salad ($8) with our pizzas. The salad was enormous and was listed on the menu as baby spinach/rocket, roast pumpkin, pine nuts & parmesan. Unfortunately it was absolutely caked in a seeded mustard dressing. There was so much mustard in it, that after a few attempts at scraping off the mustard from the spinach and pumpkin, we just gave up. If you are ordering a salad with your pizza, it's probably best to order something other than the pumpkin one, unless you haven't had your mustard fix for the year.

Finally, if you haven't had your fill of pizza for the night, there are also dessert pizzas. We had eaten more than enough, so didn't even consider one. But if a banana or strawberry dessert pizza is your thing, then dig in.

Wild Pepper is BYO, and there is a bottle shop right next door, which is extremely handy. Serve was adequate and relaxed.

If you are looking for tasty pizza at good prices, then Wild Pizza is definitely worth a visit. And if you are a Coeliac, then you'll find it's one of the few pizza places in Brisbane where you can have just about anything off the menu. You can also order the pizzas take away if you are lucky enough to live close by.

What does all this mean? Tasty, fresh pizza at very reasonable prices.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - OK
Ambience - Modern casual
Value for Money - Great
Wine - BYO

Vegetarian - Great
Gluten Free - Top Shelf

Wild Pepper
75 Hardgrave Road
West End
P - 07 3844 1262
W - http://www.wildpepper.com.au/

Bar Lourinha

Are you looking for the perfect wine bar? Then look no further. I know its not in Brisbane, but next time you are in Melbourne, make sure you don't miss Bar Lourinha.

Its a fairly small room, and you either sit at the bar, or at high communal tables. We chose the bar, mainly to eye off all the great spirits behind the bar. The room is decorated with a few eccentric knick-knacks, to give the place a bit of atmosphere.

So first up, drinks. The wine list is one page, but its a great page. There are a small amount of wines available by the glass, but don't expect what you would see in many Australian restaurants. Here you'll see Spanish, Greek, German, Italian and a few French wines. Don't know your albarino from your touriga franca? Well then you've come to the right spot. Bar Lourinha is all about immersing yourself in these fantastic European wines. And the prices are reasonable, which makes the whole thing even more attractive. Start with a manzanilla sherry, move on to a vinho verde, then a tempranillo, and you're set for a great afternoon.

If you're not into wine, then there's Kirin beer on tap, and a great range of spirits.

So what's the food like? Perfect portions to have with a glass of wine. These dishes are great for sharing, so pick a few and start nibbling away. We started with the Wagyu carne cruda ($15) and the cabbage salad with feta and mint ($13). I don't eat a lot of rare meat, but was willing to give the carne cruda a go. It was a generous serving, paired with some shaved horseradish, beetroot, radish and flat leaf parsley. The beef was extremely tender, but it was a very rich dish, which I just managed to finish. Needless to say it was a great match with my joven tempranillo. The cabbage salad was zingy and herby that was the perfect starter. The menu made no mention of the coriander, dill and flat leaf parsley that was also in the dish, but it was a fantastic salad. My dining companion was a bit narked to find her despised coriander appear, but it was removed and the dish disappeared pretty quickly.

Then for the next round, which was the house made chorizo with apple cider ($15) and the asparagus with labneh ($15). The chorizo was my favourite dish, served swimming in sauce. It was everything chorizo should be - salty, savoury and completely moreish. The crunchy pieces of apple that accompanied the chorizo gave the dish a good contrast of textures. The asparagus with labneh was solid, but nothing memorable. I thought it was a bit strange that it was served cold, but I'm finding that its now almost becoming mandatory to ask if a dish is hot or cold when ordering, because sometimes you just don't know. Anyway it was a decent selection of green and white asparagus, but there are probably more interesting and tasty options that may be a better choice.

At this stage, we didn't really need any more food. But we'd ordered it, so kept going. To finish up we had ordered the tallegio with celery and apple salad ($10). A couple of small, very cool china plates were brought out to us for this course and together with a cheese knife and silver forks really added to the character of the dish. Anyway this was a great way to end the afternoon - some fairly young tallegio with a great, crunchy salad of celery and apple.

For those that need some dessert, there are sweet options too, or you can order a selection of cheeses.

Finally, the service is informal, relaxed and completely unpretentious. The waiter at the bar will be more than happy to guide you through all those wines you've never heard of, or heard of but never had the chance to try.

All the ingredients are here for a very long afternoon or night. At the end, the bill was $117, and that covered 5 dishes, 4 glasses of wine and 2 spirits. At those prices, its hard not to enjoy yourselves.

Get along to Bar Lourinha. As much as I love Anise in Brisbane, this place is even better. I'll definitely be back next time we are in Melbourne.

What does all these mean? Fantastic wine, food to share and a long, lazy afternoon.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Good
Ambience - Understadedly Eccentric
Value for Money - Great
Wine - Top Shelf

Vegetarian - Good
Gluten Free - Good

Bar Lourinha
37 Little Collins Street
Melbourne VIC
p - 03 9663 7890
w - http://www.barlourinha.com.au/

Ciao Baby

Ciao Baby is an Italian restaurant at Albion, which has been around for a while. Although its been on the list of places to go, its taken us until now to finally make it there.

The restaurant looks good. Not everyone is going to like the decor, but as far as I am concerned, better bright than bland. Anyway you're not there for the decor.

The food was great. Not spectacular, but very tasty Italian staples. There were 4 or 5 specials of the day, which helps change the menu around. The staff were very friendly and looked after us well.

Entrees were reasonably priced, and our table went for an assortment of breads & garlic pizza. That got the night off to a good start. Other entrees include soup of the day, bruschetta and scallops.

Mains are a choice between pizza or Italian classics. Both of which are not skimpy on the sizes. The pizzas will keep even the hungriest diner happy. Other meals include lamb, fish, eye fillet and rabbit. I had the rabbit (coniglio alla cacciatore) which was braised with herbs and olives. It was very rich and the rabbit melted in my mouth. Terrific Italian comfort food. Then there are the pastas, which also sounded delicious. The special spaghetti with prawns and scallops sounded fantastic.

There are desserts too, which are presented on a very big blackboard. The panna cotta with caramelised pear was one of the best desserts I have had for a long time. The slightly wobbly panna cotta was sublime. Other desserts included a chocolate meringue with strawberries, and a chocolate and nut brownie, which was a bit disappointing.

The restaurant is BYO wine, but also has a wine list for those that aren't prepared. We eventually were brought enough glasses for the table, but that was the only slight delay in the service all night. Given that we were on a large table, the food came out surprisingly quickly.

The food here is good, honest Italian fare. Servings are big, the service is friendly and its hard not to have an enjoyable night. Its probably going to be a bit noisy for a romantic night out, but the perfect place for dinner with friends.

Finally, a word on the prices. Its not cheap, with some of the main courses up to $34. Sure the food isn't mind blowingly good, but its pretty solid. I didn't mind at all parting with $34 for the rabbit, which was delicious. So long as you aren't expecting main courses for $20, you will be fine. Its a shame that their website doesn't post up the prices of the food, to help out anyone that might be considering going along. But if you take your own wine, you'll won't have to worry too much about the prices. There is a BWS bottleshop almost next door at the Albion Hotel.

What does all this mean? Good, tasty Italian food.

Food Bling Ratings

Food - Good
Service - Great
Ambience - Striking
Value for Money - OK

Vegetarian - OK
Gluten Free - Limited
BYO - Wine only
Other - Can be noisy, Entertainment Book

Ciao Baby
340 Sandgate Road
Albion
P 07 3862 4200
W http://www.ciaobaby.com.au/