Does anyone remember a time when focaccia was the height of sophistication and restaurants serving huge portions of comforting pasta were the place to be? Let’s call it ‘the early 2000s’. This young foodie had just moved to the big smoke of Canberra and, back then, if you wanted delicious Italian with all the swank of Kingston, you headed to Santa Lucia.
In 1975, the Catanzariti family opened Santa Lucia, giving Canberra its first traditional Italian eatery and taste of the Italian way of life – la vita bella! Decades later and through three generations of the one, food-loving family, I find myself in the same physical space as the original restaurant. Only now it’s knows as Salotto, by Santa Lucia. The fit out is fresh with a clear nod to its original character and I’m excited to be back!
Salotto welcomes you with a mix of charming Italian and modern design. Think candles perched on obligatory Chianti bottles and chequered tablecloths, sitting alongside street art and illuminated letters on industrial brick walls. It’s light and airy, the perfect place for a lunch, be it short or long. I’m trying the $13.90 lunch special. You get to choose from a selection of dishes that come with a glass of wine, beer or soft drink, and fresh bread.
I’m greeted by Gustavo, who bounds in with all the energy of an Italian guy who’s had an extra shot in his morning espresso. Well, except that Gustavo is from Brazil, but he says he’s part Italian and when he starts passionately explaining the menu in intricate detail, I believe him!
The lunch special has a perfect offering of dishes to cover any taste: hearty pastas, vegetarian cannelloni, a gluten-free salad and, that Aussie fave, a parmigiana. There’s even a focaccia which, generally speaking, I still find to be the unwaveringly satisfying dish it was fifteen years ago.
They’ve lined up all the favourites so how on earth can I choose? I ask Gustavo and I’m glad I asked. There’s a story behind every dish here. A matriarch who’s so particular about her gnocchi that only she may make it and a Carbonara with golden egg yolk, just as it should be.
It is at this point, dear reader, that I do something very unusual for me. Normally the one to try the most random dish on a menu or be the first to rush out for the latest fad, I am known to judge people harshly by their bland menu choices. I once took a family member to a celebrated French patisserie and they ordered a lamington! I hollered for a JP and nearly disowned them right there over a mouthful of dacquoise.
Perhaps it was the animation with which Gustavo spoke, or just the De Bortolli Cab Shiraz that had now joined me at the table but, I did something unexpected. Something seemingly mundane yet a calculated risk. Staking my reputation as a foodie…. I ordered the Bolognese!
Usually reserved for children and the chronically dreary, I just had a feeling. There’s a lot to be said for the humble spag bol. Most can make it, though I’m very rarely impressed. In fact, I could even go so far as to say that, in my opinion, a good Bolognese is a litmus test for an Italian restaurant. A base line, if you will. Along with a perfect pizza crust and fluffy gnocchi, if they can do this right then they’re off to a solid start.
Gustavo tells me it’s special. They use chicken and veal, which I had never heard of, and it’s Mrs Catanzariti’s original recipe. I’m sold. OK. Grilled chicken salad with orange and balsamic reduction, pizza Margherita, you’ll have to wait. We’re headed to Bologna and I’m proud of my decision.
I watch the restaurant fill up. It seems to be a very popular place for lunch and some people are enjoying a drink and weighing up the bounty on the regular menu. Others are in high vis just grabbing a quick bite. There’s ample space and with beautiful, big, open windows it never feels hot or crowded.
I’m people watching when the Bolognese arrives. A mound of perfectly al dente pasta covered in a sauce that’s both simple and complex. You know what? It’s magnificent! I’m so glad I let Gustavo persuade to to take this leap of faith. The chicken and veal are a prodigious combo and pair delightfully with a De Bortoli chardonnay, which has now also appeared.
Given the lightness of the meat and the well-rounded, fruity plonk, this is turning out to be quite the gourmet experience! It’s not oily or overpowering. The meat is tender and I don’t feel that acidic tang you often get when tomato has been overused to masquerade cheap ingredients. It’s simple but has all the moreish quality you would expect from a pasta made with forty years’ experience.
I festoon my plate with fresh parmesan and I’m a happy girl, transported to my Nonna’s house when I was a kid. Except I’m not even Italian! But it’s so good I’m having all of the nostalgic feels regardless. I might even buy a Vespa for the ride home. Relax, I resisted.
You’ll notice in the pics there’s a second serving of food. My husband was laid up with Man Flu, battling with valour, and when I arrived alone they insisted I try two dishes and take the rest home. How can you not love a place that’s so welcoming and proud of its food, it sends you home with a care package?!
My second choice had an ailing Mr B in mind, a puttanesca, one we occasionally make at home. I’d tell you Nigella Lawson’s hilarious moniker for this dish but some clever Googling will relieve me of the need for salacious language here. It had all the right bits – plump capers, olives that could stand up on their own and weren’t ‘just for cooking’ and a hint of anchovy. Oh and a nice smattering of chilli.
It’s not easy to appear refined while sitting alone, simultaneously tasting two full plates of delicious pasta and two glasses of wine. I think I was succeeding as Pascoe comes wandering over. He now runs Salotto and is the grandson of the original owners. The restaurant is packed but he takes a few minutes to tell me about how much this place means to him and his family. You know that they say about food made with love.
I finish my pasta, bread and wine. I feel like I should sit for a bit and grab a drink at the bar, except work beckoned. Still, I’m in my happy place, armed with a box of nostalgia for the husband too. As I’m leaving, an adorable local asks me if I’m a ‘real food writer’ or just one of those people who post pictures on some silly blog. I smile knowingly, wondering myself. She says she dines at Salotto all the time and I must try the cannelloni because it’s the best I’ll ever eat. Seeing as it’s only $13.90, I guess I’ll be back next week!
The Salotto lunch special is available daily from 11:30am – 2:30pm. You can view the menu on Salotto’s website.
About the author:
Emma Bickley is an irrepressible foodie who divides her time between cooking, eating and a few other tasks that pale into insignificance by comparison. She tries to follow recipes but ultimately cooks by feel… and with an irresponsible amount of butter. Even her small children (AKA culinary protégés) already know that no one eats until a photograph has been taken. You can find her food pics on Instagram @photo_before_we_eat or find her blissfully wandering around the markets squeezing produce, talking with her hands, encouraging her husband to smell things (which he won’t) and trying to decipher foreign ingredient labels. Of recent, you can also find her writing and dining for Eat Canberra. And if you ask about the stain on her top, she’ll say it was delicious.
Eat Canberra was invited to dine as guests of Salotto but all opinions are the author’s own.
Emma Bickley
Emma is an irrepressible foodie who divides her time between cooking, eating and a few other tasks that pale into insignificance by comparison. She tries to follow recipes but ultimately cooks by feel... and with an irresponsible amount of butter. Even her small children (AKA culinary protégés) already know that no one eats until a photograph has been taken. You can find her food pics on Instagram @photo_before_we_eat or find her blissfully wandering around the markets squeezing produce, talking with her hands, encouraging her husband to smell things (which he won’t) and trying to decipher foreign ingredient labels. Of recent, you can also find her blogging for Eat Canberra. And if you ask about the stain on her top, she’ll say it was delicious.