LOCATIONSituated at Waterfront City in Melbourne’s Docklands.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIADi Nardo family’s latest venture, Cocamo, is set to be as successful as their previous restaurant, Scusa Mi, in Southbank. With terrazzo finish charcoal floors, upholstered leather ceiling panels in deep chocolate and quality fittings throughout; Cocamo is both sophisticated and subdued.
The deliciously tempting Italian menu is heavily influenced by the classic ingredients, philosophies and methods of the North. Excellent value is the lunch special where for $30 you get two courses and a glass of wine with choices like baby calamari, semolina crumbed, lightly fried and served on a bed of rucola with pickled mayonnaise, or medallions of white veal, pan cooked with marsala and served with white corn polenta. Alternatively from the a la carte menu choose to start with pureed cannelloni bean soup with pistachio pesto, or the pan fried gnocchi with Hervey Bay scallops and tomato sugo. For main sample the veal rib eye, grilled with pancetta, sage and lemon, or the half duck, boned and double baked with a pinot noir sauce and wild mushrooms. Finish with a caramelised seasonal red apple terrine with vanilla bean ice cream. The wine list has plenty of Italian offerings at varying prices with a sprinkling of Australian contenders.
Veda Wickens, September 2006
