SA Weekend restaurant review – Francesco Osteria, Torrensville
A little restaurant in the western suburbs is guided by the spirit of one of the world’s most magical cities, writes Simon Wilkinson.
SA Weekend
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The blackboard panel beside us is decorated with a rough chalk sketch of what looks like an arched bridge with ornate balustrade. Further along are the spires of a grand cathedral and the distinctive prow of a gondola.
Oh, to be wandering the labyrinth streets of Venice again, crossing the Rialto, gazing in wonder at the San Marco Basilica, cruising up the Grand Canal.
As the world stands, however, Italy and the rest of Europe looks further away than ever. The closest we will get to “La Sernissima” is sitting right here, in the back corner of Francesco’s Osteria.
Here comes Francesco now, straight from the kitchen, his moustache as lush as ever, if just a little greyer.
The story of how he ended up moving from Venice to the other side of the world begins, almost predictably, with a love affair. Adelaide girl Sarah was backpacking around Europe when she met Francesco and ended up living there with him for 20 years, raising two children and learning to cook from his mother.
Shifting to Adelaide for the kids’ final years of school, the couple struggled to find suitable work. They opened a food stall specialising in vegetarian and vegan versions of the tapas-like morsels known as “cicchetti”.
That business has grown to become a favourite at festivals such as WOMADelaide and the Fringe, as well as moving into Plant 4 at Bowden, where it remains today.
Then, in early 2018, Francesco’s dream of finding a permanent home and a proper kitchen led to them taking over what was Modinetti, on Henley Beach Rd.
Three long, narrow rooms are linked like a series of train carriages, the last space an enclosed and insulated courtyard. The layout might help diners to stay appropriately distanced but does present some challenges for staff, so it’s fortunate our waitress has more energy than the hyperactive bunny on the battery ad.
She introduces a menu that expands on the vegetarian/vegan focus for which Francesco’s is known. For a start, a Venetian restaurant has to include seafood. There is also a single red meat dish. And grated parmesan (not a dodgy substitute) is offered with the pasta. Arancini, on the other hand, don’t contain cheese, instead relying on a powerful stock and hint of tomato to keep the arborio rice grains lush. A gluten-free coating fries as crisp as regular crumbs, while the pale green dipping sauce made from soy, olive oil and wild rocket is runny but does the job.
An antipasto platter features dips of beetroot and a wickedly garlic-laden white bean concoction, marinated olives and a fresh pickle of zucchini ribbons soaked in lemon, with toasted and crisped bread.
Pasta is freshly made for Francesco’s by a local family who use a special recipe free of eggs. The supple fettuccine-style ribbons come with a choice of three sauces including a homely, slow-cooked tomato sugo scattered with olives.
Risotto is made to order, from scratch, in individual pots, a process many restaurants find too time-consuming. Doesn’t it make a difference, the grains plump but still intact rather than broken down into a porridge-y gloop, making it a bright canvas for seafood including mussels, prawns and baby squid separated into clumps of tentacles and sweet, delicate tubes.
A hefty layer of polenta is the starting point for a compilation of Venetian specialties including two scoops of salted cod that has been soaked, poached and then whipped with oil until it looks like mashed potato.
Fried sardine fillets are buried beneath a sweet onion braise that could do with a splash more vinegar.
Polenta also supplies the ballast beneath a slow-cooked beef and tomato and red wine stew, for which the words hearty and homely were invented.
It even finds its way on to the desserts list, in a slice of crumbly lemon cake with strawberry and ice-cream. “Torta di Carnevale”, on the other hand, is part cheesecake, part chocolate fudge cake, all soft, creamy, not overly-sweet pleasure.
Francesco’s is a reminder of the best parts of Venice – not the flash-Harry tourist traps that fight for room around the major attractions, but the humble community eateries and run-down bars, usually stumbled upon at the end of a long and aimless wander. It’s one for those who are drawn to the spirit of a place rather than a quest for perfection.
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