Let's eat: A lesson full of sheer delight

Ann Maree Rowe and Chris Faithfull at Dilecta. Photo / Michael Craig

DILECTA
549 Great North Rd Grey Lynn
Ph: (09) 376 6682

No clearer sign is needed that a classical education has fallen out of favour than the repeated reference in reviews to the name of this cafe as meaning "lovely". It is rather like defining a deer as a quadruped: it is true, as far as it goes, but not particularly helpful.

Readers who care will certainly know that dilecta - an adjective formed from the past participle of the Latin diligere, which means to esteem or love - is what's called a substantive; the noun "things" is implied and so the adjective stands alone in the neuter plural form. Thus "dilecta" means "beloved things", though "delightful" - the English word that shares its ancestry - is even better. Nothing like a Latin lesson on a Sunday morning, don't you think?

In fact, Dilecta took its name from a Deco poster for a French cycling team of the 1920s (it's hanging on the wall) but "delightful things" is an apt name for this place because that's what they serve.

The premises were home for five years to the popular Mondial, which I couldn't bring myself to go back to after Pascal and Manuel decamped to Beresford St, taking the wonderfully cheeky waitress Poi Eruera with them. But since it reopened under new management a couple of months ago, it has been on my radar.

The new owners, Ann Maree Rowe and Chris Faithfull, who had the excellent Kingsland cafe, The Fridge, have stripped out the dark European bar in favour of a bright and spare design - olive walls, bentwood chairs, 70s metal lampshades - that manages to be both chic and homely.

Rowe herself was doing waitress duties that evening, with an easy familiarity quite free of affectation. She didn't say "Enjoy" when she put a plate down; she said "Get into it" or "You'll like that". I liked that.

The room was full when we walked in on a recent Thursday evening and we were lucky to snare a table, between two quartets of women (in their early 20s and 60s respectively, which says something about the breadth of the place's appeal).

Small plates dominate here, I'm afraid, which to my mind knocks group dining on the head - I don't really like sharing a plate with someone I don't share a bed or a bank account with. To their credit they offer three mains, which they call "a little more substantial" (crispy skin salmon, braised lamb and steak frites) and I'll be back to try those soon, but on this visit we chose from the dozen selections ranging from olives to goat ribs.

Chef Anthony Gradiska, whose CV includes Molten, The French Cafe and stints in Margaret River and at the America's Cup in San Francisco, brings both skill and imagination to a pan-Med bill of fare. Among stuff we didn't try was the French caramelised-onion pizza called pissaladiere and some pork terrine. But there was plenty we did.

Sardines, pickled Nordic-style, come on wonderful sourdough toast; bite-sized baby beets sit on a bed of goat's cheese scattered with dry-roasted hazelnuts; slices of very tasty black pudding lie on Puy lentils, done just al dente, and bits of earthy Jerusalem artichoke.

The tiny bones slid like toothpicks from the deliciously tender braised goat ribs, which had musky touches of Africa and the Levant: ras el hanout, yoghurt, coriander seed. The salted caramel tart with chocolate semifreddo that we shared to finish was just perfect.

More of an eating house than its predecessor, Dilecta is ... delightful and a welcome addition to a neighbourhood that is starting to be spoiled for eating-out choice.

• Small plates $10.50-$18; mains $24-$32; sides $9.50; desserts $14.