Restaurant review Adelaide: Osteria Oggi
DINING at the Press team’s new Italian trattoria is a sure way to lift your spirits.
AT the end of a long and fractious working day, I’m in need of the kind of nourishment that goes beyond a full belly. A lone, wind-battered walk up empty Pirie St makes the situation desperate.
Opening the door into Oggi is a battle in which poor design and dubious life-skills may be equally culpable. Not a good start.
Inside, a concrete plinth stretches the length of the room, morphing from shared table to bar and back again. Genius. I’m shown to a seat at the far end where it’s warmer and the room opens to a larger chamber that’s hidden from the front.
A glass of vino? Si. Fish of the day? Perfetto. Bread and oil? Grazie.
Then the music kicks in. Old school. Crooners. Strings. “Do you smile to tempt a lover Mona Lisa ...”
The other noise is behind me. Beneath a pergola decked with lights and creeping greenery, a boisterous bunch of revellers twirl pasta from each others’ plates and clink glassware. In the arched alcoves, smaller groups share a more dignified repast. Up a small flight of stairs, in the mezzanine kitchen, chefs and waiters shift in and out of view, actors on a stage.
Dinner arrives. The roasted snapper is heaven: a tranche of pure, pearly flesh topped with a dark, salty crackling lid. It’s surrounded by a jumble of mussels and clams, the whole lot washed in a briny wave of sauce flecked with parsley and a hint of chilli. So simple, so bloody good. The best seafood dish I’ve eaten in ages.
It’s been a Ferrari ride from the depths of despair to a happy place in under 30 minutes. I’m hooked.
Simon Kardachi and his team from Press Food and Wine have a happy knack for picking a shift in mood. Their opening of Osteria Oggi (pronounced Oj-ee) might indicate that we are tiring of dark rooms and po-faced obsessing and ready for something that’s brighter and more joyful.
In Italian cucina, they have the perfect vehicle and have shown their usual attention to detail. The conversion of this former health insurance branch office is worth a visit just to see the vaulted ceilings, archways and that bar, which was poured on site. Pasta is made in house, the fiddlier stuffed shapes, we’re told, by a team of ladies who work on a marble table in the cellar. Staff have either the right accent, the right amount of brio, or both. Some minor early flaws — the cold plates, for instance — have been fixed, though the playlist now seems louder and less attuned to its surrounds.
I’ve been back since the fish. At a pasta lunch with office mates we ordered six different options and handed around tastes. My winner is the campanelle, a frilly-edged trumpet shape that’s just big enough to trap pieces of smoked eel and peas like a carnivorous flower. The gnocchetti with broccoli, anchovy and chilli hits all the right notes as well, the veg cooked to the point of disintegrating, in the traditional style. Casarecce with leeks, radicchio, squacquerone cheese and Jerusalem artichoke reads brilliantly but falls flat.
The most recent visit, a family affair, allowed a wider graze. Steer clear of the “soldiers” cloaked in a second-skin of melting lardo unless you’re strong-willed — they may become an obsession. Raw scallops, shaved fennel and celery will help right the balance. Pressed tongue with a tonnato mayo doesn’t have the appeal of sliced veal, if we’re being honest. The house lasagne is in perfect proportions, with a silky bechamel and a ragu that includes nobbly bits of pork sausage. Blue swimmer crab tagliatelle with corn and black garlic stands out among more familiar pasta combinations but is totally divine, the supple strands coated in a crustacean essence from the crab shells, the meat delicate and sweet, the kernels plump and juicy.
It might just be the go-to dish next time I need to feel better about the world. Provided I can get in the door, of course.
Osteria Oggi
76 Pirie St, city, 8359 2525, osteriaoggi.com.au
OWNER Simon Kardachi, Andrew Davies and partners CHEF Andrew Davies, Mimi Rivers FOOD Italian
SMALL PLATES $8-$22 MAINS $21-$32 (shared plates to $90) DESSERT $9-$15 DRINKS An even mix of Italian imports and locals channelling Italian varieties and styling BYO No
Osteria Oggi is open for
LUNCH AND DINNER MON-SAT
FOOD 31/40 STAFF 7/10
DRINK 8/10 VALUE 15/20
X FACTOR 17/20
TOTAL 78