LOCATIONOn the corner of O’Connell Street and Brougham Place.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAIf you are a fan of Farina Kitchen and Bar, its sister restaurant Sparrow will probably win you over before you land there. Executive Chef Matthew Goodlet presides over both, expertly blending Spanish flavours with his celebrated Italian cuisine. Restaurateurs Matthew and Olivia Trim have applied their winning formula at Sparrow then added some more grunt. A charcuterie component now introduces the popular tapas-style menu so, for example, prosciutto and chorizo hang alongside the likes of guanciale in the display cabinet. The latter (pork cheek) can also be found in a very anti ho-hum spaghetti bolognese with oxtail, nutmeg and basil, and features again with gorgonzola, pear and walnut on one of the delicious pizzas.
Grazing with friends allows you the opportunity of sampling many tapas dishes such as octopus carpaccio with potato foam and paprika, or Goodlet’s famous duck doughnuts with porcini salt. If you prefer the three-course format, you may like to begin with strega-cured ocean trout with creme fraiche and fennel. Mains bring meat and seafood to the wood-grill in plates such as cockles, garlic, lemon and crostini or the 180-day grain-fed scotch fillet. Tapas-sized desserts are a great excuse to come in for a little something sweet. Sparrow’s multi-terraced courtyard is the perfect setting for enjoying crema catalana with a drop of Don Jose sherry perhaps. Inside, the dining area is spacious with round and rectangular dark wooden tables placed upon wooden floorboards and a couple of lounges set to one side. Tagine-shaped light-fittings hang over communal bench seating, bringing diners casually together. Come and perch in Sparrow to try one of the most interesting menus in town.
Roz Taylor