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Passione - a review
posted Friday, 9 November 2007
I had a foodie afternoon with a pal yesterday with a bias towards Italian food - more on that in a future post. We then found ourselves on Charlotte Street in London's West End - somewhere I don't get to very often these days. Charlotte Street is famous for its restaurants - from Pescatori at one end to Bertorellis and BamBou at the other. Gennaro Contaldo's Passione opened back in the '90s when I couldn't afford to eat there and this was my first real opportunity for a visit.
Passione - passion in English - is exactly what this place is about - Contaldo clearly has a passion for his ingredients and that comes through on the plate.
What I love about places like this is simplicity - there's nothing fancy in the decor, there's no background music and there's no pretence in the menu. The food is about a modern Italian interpretation of the ingredients - everything is quite simple and of excellent quality.
A little bowl of olives sat in the middle of the table and I'm sure they were meant to last us until the starters arrived. They had no chance. Big, plump vibrant green olives sitting in a nut-flavoured oil which was so rich it was almost buttery.
The waitress came round to show us the special starter - wild mushrooms - she had a big plateful of them to show what was on offer. I honestly can't understand why not every person in the dining room took them - it was a no brainer for my pal and me. They duly arrived - lovely firm porcini, trompets du mort, pied du mouton and excellent chanterelles - all cooked with garlic, parsley and just a touch of cream and I sensed a tiny flavouring of white truffle... For me, this was the highlight of the meal - autumnal decadence on a plate.
I followed with the grilled red mullet - four very tasty, fishy fillets (perhaps a little underseasoned) with puy lentils and cherry tomatoes. My pal had lamb cutlets - four chops stuffed with ham and all in a tight breadcrumb jacket.
To wash it all down, we had a bottle of Vermentino Solosole made from the Vermentino grape (a new one on me) - like a more fruity sauvignon if you can imagine such a thing?
I had to finish with a generous serving of aged pecorino with chestnut honey... all told, a very pleasant evening with some great food.
1. Toni-anne left...
Friday, 9 November 2007 5:37 pm
That sounds like my kind of place. May I ask what the food cost?
2. Richard Leader left...
Monday, 12 November 2007 12:11 pm :: http://superfood.blog-city.com/
It's not cheap that's for sure - starters are £12-16 and mains £20-25
ish...
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