PROFILED BY DEGROOTS MEDIAAndiamo presents a genuine Italian dining experience in the heart of the Gold Coast. The dashing waiters look the part and have a working knowledge of the Italian language coupled with excellent knowledge of the menu and the wine list. We began an evening of indulgence with Andiamo’s antipasto selection, which is a delicious representation of Italian tastes designed as a starter for one but adequate for two. The dining experience saunters through a journey of appetisers and entrees, salads, main courses or secondi piatti and ends with heavenly desserts. Our first courses of ostriche al forno (baked oysters with semi-dried tomato tapenade, bocconcini cheese and olive capsicum marmalade with hollandaise sauce) and trota al prosciutto (smoked rainbow trout wrapped in prosciutto served with orange and cucumber carpaccio and roasted garlic aioli) satisfied the senses with their presentation, flavour and texture.
We ordered a radicchio salad while pondering the wine list, pasta and other main courses. The angel hair pasta tossed with meatballs, green olives, Spanish onions and fresh broccolini with a touch of chilli in a tomato and basil sauce was a relatively easy choice but deciding between the temptations from the secondi selection took longer. The finalists were marinated lamb fillets with saffron risotto, tomato petals, rosemary and scallops with Barolo jus and milk-fed veal loin brushed with olive tapenade, grilled and served with butternut pumpkin ragout and speck-wrapped artichokes. The dessert platter for two – a showcase of dainty sweet treats – was the obvious choice but the pannacotta with white chocolate – dipped biscuits and blood orange syrup and the ricotta cheese and chocolate pie with caramel coffee syrup and almond fudge ice-cream proved to be the great seducers. Our meal ended with beautiful fresh black coffee and dreams of Italian holidays.
Catherine Taylor, May 2008
