On Wednesday, G and I celebrated 9 years together. That is a substantial amount of time. I certainly think it's worthy of some recognition and maybe a little reward . . . let's say, an amazing dinner together.
Not too long ago, our friend Todd sent G a link to a mouth-watering blog entry on Chubby Hubby about an Italian restaurant in Sydney. I think he'd been fantasizing about it ever since. When I gave him the choice over our coupledom anniversary dinner – after all, the poor boy has been working sooo hard – it didn't take too long for him to pick Buon Ricordo.
The place is slightly hidden on a small side-street in Paddington. It looks like small Italian villa, but it would be very easy to pass it by if you're not looking for it. Inside, there is a funny mix of modern elements with quirky pieces you might find at your grandma's house. Funky art hangs on the walls over tables with chairs covered in a flower pattern worthy of a retirement home in Florida.
The food, however, was flawless. We ordered four dishes, and our waiter was nice enough to arrange to have them all split ahead of time so that it was presented as a four course meal. Actually, the waitstaff was really wonderful across the board, and service was never stuffy.
Before our ordered courses began to arrive, two beautiful pieces of bruschetta were sent out to start the meal. Slightly roasted tomatoes mixed with a generous amount of basil mounded on top of bread with a light coating of olive oil. Pretty much your basic bruschetta make-up, and yet somehow, this was exceptional.
Our first course was Trout Crudo off of the specials menu. Beautiful, thin slices of trout were drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with tarragon and bottarga – dried fish roe. I'd never hear of bottarga before, but it really punched up the flavor of the fish.
Next up were the Fagottini di Carne. We could smell these rustic, homemade sausages well before they hit the table. The wafting scent of truffles preceded the plate by a good bit. A parmesan crust lightly coated each sausage, upping the flavor another notch, and a light drizzle of lemon oil brightened all of the flavors. Umami galore! The bitterness of the greens served on the side cut the richness just beautifully.
Sausages are among G's favorite foods and these sent him into profound fits of ecstasy. He ate each one with such care and savored each bite so slowly, visibly concentrating on extracting every last possible bit of flavor and meditating on experiencing every moment to it's fullest. I'm pretty sure there were tears in his eyes when he finally came to the end.
Usually, it would be difficult to follow such an amazing course. How could anything top it? However, the Fettuccine al Tartufovo did not disappoint. This is the restaurant's signature dish and it was pictures of this pasta that drew us in. The secret is a truffle infused egg. Our waiter explained that the eggs are placed in airtight containers with pieces of black truffles, and somehow the flavor permeates the entire egg. And does it ever! The pasta is brought to the table with the fried truffle egg on top. Heaps of parmesan cheese are shaved onto the pasta and then the whole thing is tossed together table-side. Pure decadence!
For our final course we had Anatra con Broccoli – roasted duck with broccoli in a light garlic and chilli sauce that was refined down to a beautiful red glaze. The duck skin wasn't crisp, as we had expected, but it was luscious.
They also sent a side of rosemary potatoes and green beans with a light herb and olive oil sauce, similar to a pesto. As with the bruschetta there was nothing to indicate that these would anything out of the common way, but they were spectacular. The potatoes weren't in the least bit greasy, but brown and crispy on the outside, and completely fluffy on the inside.
By the end, there was little room left for dessert. However, the restaurant very kindly sent us a couple of mini pistachio cannoli on plate with Happy Anniversary written in chocolate.
G and I were in agreement that this was probably the best Italian meal of our lives. Buon Ricordo means good memories, a fitting name for the occasion and we have quite a few new ones to take away.
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For anyone interested in learning to infuse truffles into eggs, check out the instructions on Truffle Dogs WA.
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