Walking in: It's a long room, painted white with tasteful art dotted about the walls; the dark wooden tables and chairs are reminiscent of an Italian trattoria. The huge, wooden-framed windows at the front fold open to give a view of people strolling by. The owner, Mark, greets many customers
by name and knows lots of his locals' favourite drinks and dishes. There is little as romantic as Italian food.
On the menu: With options of antipasti, primi piatti (pasta), secondi piatti (fish and meat), pizzas, insalata and dolce, this looks like my kind of place. The pasta, gnocchi and pizza dough are lovingly made from scratch and each dish comes with a wine suggestion. I read through offerings such as fegatini: chicken livers sauteed in onions, mushrooms and marsala; and la barca ragu: pappardelle with a slow braised ragu of beef shin, orange and rosemary, I start to panic - what if I order the wrong thing and get menu envy? Everything sounds beautiful and full of flavour - mozzarella, prosciutto, gorgonzola, garlic, chilli, oregano are scattered about the menu in an enticing fashion. The wine list is well thought out and there is also a BYO option.
We start with: Unable to decide between pizza, fish or steak, we ask Mark to choose for us. He brings us glasses of prosecco, the sparkling wine produced in the north of Italy. Light and dry, it is the perfect aperitif for us. The pizza bread has golden crispy edges and a light, doughy warmth, fragrant with garlic, oregano and olive oil. A bowl of water with a slice of lemon heralds the arrival of gamberi fritti: a pile of huge, pink prawns and scampi served with a traditional gardinieri salsa of finely chopped pickled vegetables and egg. Mark shows us how to squeeze the backs of the scampi which releases the buttery flesh with minimum of effort. We mop up the juices with our garlic pizza bread and marvel at the seafood's freshness.
We drink: Mark suggests the Heron's Flight Sangiovese, a wine produced in Matakana by a family who specialise in Italian grape varieties. Rich and dark, it complemented our main dishes in great style.
Then we have: Glancing around at the beautiful dishes being served to customers, we wonder what we'll be eating. Huge pizzas, bubbling with mozzarella and spiced salamis, leave an aromatic trail as they are whisked past. The restaurant must have a vast herb garden as plump, verdant basil leaves are generously scattered over each pizza. We groan in delight as our meals are set down before us. A Wairarapa Angus eye fillet steak, which had been hung for three weeks, comes with the creamiest, blue vein gorgonzola sauce. The steak's caramelised edges give way to a melting, full-flavoured centre cooked perfectly rare. A tangle of home-made fettuccine all'arrabbiata coated in a piquant tomato sauce taste like centuries of love and care had gone into its recipe.