The much awaited Omerta Wine bar finally opened its doors after the disappearance of Gastronomia Pelagio on Victoria St Darlinghurst. With the competition of Thomas Dux and Crown St grocer opening up nearby, the deli decided on an exit strategy and transformed the space into a beautiful wine bar. Under A Tavola’s chef Eugenio Maiale’s creation of what I think is the perfect wine bar menu, you cannot get a better grand entrance. A long, white marble communal table features in the centre of the dining room, next to a sandstone bar area. There’s an intimate lounge area near the window, and smaller tables by the wall for the table-of-two’s.
As always, I arrive on time, so I patiently wait for my friends with a Negroni Milanese (Martini Rosso, Campari, Prosecco) while tweeting on the iPhone. Pat Nourse corrects that the real name for this cocktail is actually called a Negroni Sbagliato, which is the ‘cooler name’. On a weekday night, I think this would be the perfect place to dine alone. The waitress thought that was the case until I was joined by two beautiful ladies 15 minutes later. Afterall, the risotto cooked to order is a group activity!
We started with Salt Cod and potato fritters with garlic mayo, mussels steamed with white wine, saffron and tomato (with a good serving of bread to soak up the fragrant sauce), and the grilled eggplant with scamorza (such an oozy soft melted cheese).
Grilled eggplant with scamorza and tomato $15
For the main, the three of us shared the risotto cooked to order for two, which was a squid ink risotto. The texture was rich, the squid was intense and flavoured with a strong scent of porcini mushrooms. Topped with lightly floured and fried squid, we were in risotto heaven, smiling with blackened lips. We tried to finish the generous serving, but couldn’t – I think it can easily serve four people because it was so rich.
Squid ink risotto & Rocket, grape and parmesan salad
The rocket salad, with a refreshing addition of seedless red grapes instead of the usual pear was also very well received and definitely making a return visit on my dining table at home.
For dessert we ordered the bombolini with Italian hot chocolate – which was a cross between a doughnut and a churro, dipped in thick hot chocolate. The strawberries and marsala also satisfied the sweet tooths.
Bombolini, Strawberries
Being one of the coldest nights in Sydney so far, everything we ate truly hit the spot like a warm hug. Many thanks to Dianna for the amazing photographs (and sorry to the people next to us who had to endure the flash!)
235 Victoria St
Darlinghurst 2010
Phone: (02) 9360 1011
Ooh, that looks so yum!
your about me section had no contact details but what is the point of an rss feed if the feed only shows a paragraph of your post?
Thanks for letting me know Jane, this has all been fixed!
Food here is very good but also quite expensive as portions are small so you need to order quite a bit if you tend to eat well. So before you know it, you have spent over $250.00 for two including a decent but not the most expensive bottle of wine.