Pane & Vino - Italian Trattoria

I'd planned to make pasta for dinner the last 2 nights running, however, in classic post-christmas recovery mode, we've managed to fail to buy eggs on both days.  So we just figured we'd pop out for whatever we could find, with a couple of options high on our list of intentions - bearing in mind that Auckland has both emptied out and seeminly shut down for the christmas period.  Sure enough, the first 3 restaurants we had in mind were all shut.  And then we fortuitously did a u-turn near Pane & Vino.  Simon had this traditional little Italian trattoria on his 'must try' list, so try we did.

Pane & Vino (warning - you'll need to mute your volume or pause the track if you don't like streaming wav while browsing!!!)

20 Williamson Ave

Ponsonby

BYO

Firstly, let me just say that Tito is one of those amazing individuals who defines the term 'larger than life'.  He is a force of a nature, a bundle of energy, a caricature of Italian-ness, and while I'm fairly confident that almost every time he spoke to us it was in Italian, his accent is so very present, that even his english was fairly Italian!  I love to see any business owner with his level of passion and utter love for what he does!  He is never short of a heartfelt smile, and regularly sings along with whatever modern or classic Italian track is being played, while he easily moves from waiting, to cooking, to serving, to barista, to convivial host!  I could go on all night, but I really ought to get to the food!

We decided to share the special starter of the evening - a classic bruschetta with garlic, buffalo mozzarella, tomato & fresh basil. This was absolutely delicious.  Loads of garlic, but beautifully balanced, the mozarrella was lovely, and the tomato full of flavour.  The bread itself was a smidgen burnt on the edges, but every mouthful was so good, I almost forgot about that.

Next, Simon had the special ravioli of the evening - a carrot & parmesan ravioli with a tomato & beef ragu and parmigiano reggiano - this was rich, hearty and packed with flavour.  Oh - I should also mention that we ordered a 1/2 litre carafe of their house-red-wine - a montepulciano.  This was served classic trattoria style from a jug, in standard table glasses. I did mention this was traditional trattoria style didn't I?!

Ok, back to the main course - I decided to NOT order pasta, seeing as I really do enjoy making my own, and would rather try something that I'm not planning on doing at home.  So I settled on Calamari ripieni alla viestana - whole squid stuffed with bread, egg, parmesan, garlic, and cooked in a tomato & white wine sauce.  The sauce, like Simon's, was rich and bursting with flavour.  The squid was unexpectedly tender, and very good. I would order this again.  It was served with a small salad and a basket of bread - which was perfect for mopping up the last of the sauce. We also had the steamed green veges with garlic, which was a bowl of green beans this evening.

As we were finishing our meal we saw a pizza at another table and it looked absolutely amazing - we may yet be back later this week for pizza!

I overheard another diner ordering tartufo for dessert.  We weren't planning on having dessert, however I can never find tartufo on menus in New Zealand and it was one of my favourite dining memories from our time in Italy, so we did decide to share one of these this evening.  It was really very good, but we are glad we shared a single dessert rather than both ordering something!

For something a bit different to end on, I ordered a Maretto - an espresso shot with lemoncello.  I'm not sure, but it tasted like it was almost a half & half ratio of coffee to lemoncello!  Good thing Simon was driving methinks!  I'd never thought of pairing coffee & lemoncello - it was surprisingly good!

Prices were generally lower than I'm used to paying for Italian in Auckland - we paid about $90 for a shared entree, a pasta main and a non-pasta main plus a side of veges, a shared dessert, alcoholic coffee & 1/2 litre of wine. Their corkage for BYO is also very reasonable at $5.

Yes, we will be back, we will take others with us and we will recommend Pane & Vino to friends.

Ristorante Andrea - Mission Bay Auckland

Now that I've learnt how to make my own pasta, including fettuccine, ravioli, cannelloni and lasagne, I tend to me more reluctant to pay for it at a restaurant and will tend to opt for gnocchi which I've not yet learnt how to make! Well, I was very pleased I did order the pasta on Saturday, when I had the pleasure of joining friends at Ristorante Andrea in Mission Bay.

I arrived a little earlier than my friends, and had no idea what name the booking was under, so after a confused conversation with the waitress, I lurked awkwardly on the footpath awaiting their arrival. The waitress soon approached me again and suggested I take a seat out the front while I waited - she was really nice about it and I appreciated being rescued! She continued to joke with us during the evening, along with providing really good service, as did the very Italian gentlemen who was also serving us, prompting us to order before the very large group that was settling in. I appreciated this quite homely feel and felt very welcome and like nothing was a problem.

Shortly after we'd all sat down at our table I commented to my neighbour on the brown paper strips serving as tableclothes. Until we found the jar of crayons and all proceeded to draw, sign and photograph our various masterpieces! Love it!

Anyway, back to the food! I ordered one of the many special pastas - Fettuccine alla Amatriciana. It was absolutely fabulous! A hint of spice, rich tomato, and bursting with flavour right to the very end. I absolutely would order this again.

4 of my companions also ordered pasta dishes, and I believe all enjoyed them. One pizza was ordered, and it looked really good, enough so that I'd go back for pizza as well.

Most of us had desserts, and these weren't quite as rave-worthy as the mains, but by no-means complaint-worthy either. When I return I'm likely to have starters and mains rather than mains & dessert.

In summary: comfortable friendly service, relaxed environment and really good pasta! Next time I'll take Simon, and I'll remember to take food photos.

Ciao Ristorante - Gourmet Trattoria

We decided to plan to go out for dinner tonight. So we planned it one hour in advance instead of our usual 40 minutes in advance. :) Fortunately, Ciao even had a table available (although Orbit didn't).

In a nutshell - divine! Simon decided that this was one of his top two dining experiences this year!

The atmosphere, as always, was great; service and attention to detail - flawless; presentation and taste - to die for. Oh my word, to die for and then some.

We started with a gorgeous tomato, mozarella and basil salad (see pic below) - the tomatoes and cheese are both imported from Italy for this dish.

Next, Simon had the Ciao Qua Qua - orange duck, and it was delicious, and a work of art! I had the Agnello - rack of lamb. This was heaven. The mash was creamy and full of flavour - full of fresh thyme. The lamb itself, and I pride myself on doing a great rack of lamb, was one of the best I've had. It was packed full of flavour, very tender and very lean.

To accompany, we both had Italian wines. Simon had a Sicilian Merlot (2001!) and I had a Cabernet, Sangiovese (2004) from who knows where! We both went on the waitresses recommenddations, so I didn't actually catch the label of either of these. They were both very dry wines, but absolutely beautiful, and a splendid match with our meals.

Instead of finishing with dessert, we each had an affogato - and they were lovely.

So yes, a splendid meal, 10 out of 10 - as I expect from Ciao, although tonight it even exceeded my expectations. Oh - and I am delighted to see that they have extended their 'requires 3 days notice' menu. Yay! We will have to get organised some time and plan days ahead and partake of hare or pheasant or one of their other very special dishes.