Guiseppe Arnaldo & Sons
By Franz Scheurer
Local boy made good in Sydney returns to Melbourne and lessons learnt at North Bondi Italian go down well with Victorian diners at this casual trattoria in the Crown complex. Produce stations throughout the restaurant, a beautiful wine-wall and the frequent use of fabulous, glowing Italian marble make this place both visually interesting and practical for the staff to use. In North Bondi Italian-style, the menu is divided into Olive, Salumi, Antipasti, Formaggi, Crudo, Zuppe, Pasta, Offal, Frutti di Mare, Carni, Insalate, Verdure, Dolci and Panini, a system which is easy to read and works well.
The wine list again is divided, this time into Vini in Caraffa, Aperitivi, Spumanti, Bianco, Rosso, Birra, Digestivi and Spuntini (bar snacks) and is Italian-heavy with a decent selection by the glass. With a ‘no booking’ policy, the Spuntini section can get a workout as hungry diners fill the bar awaiting tables. The restaurant entrance from within Crown can be a little confusing, as it leads straight into the bar, which has to be traversed to reach the restaurant’s reception desk. There aren’t any staff members in evidence to give direction and it isn’t immediately obvious where the dining area is.
In the restaurant proper, tables are close, in trattoria-style, yet not too close for comfort and, despite the abundance of tiles and marble, it never becomes too noisy for conversation. The tiles are handmade in Italy and create a stunning warm effect against a black background. Service can show typically Italian nonchalance. Waitstaff clad in sneakers, jeans and long chemist-like jackets dance around the tables asking ‘who’s having the xxx’ with absolutely no idea who ordered what, which in such an otherwise professional establishment is somewhat disconcerting.
The food is competent with many interesting regional items, though, to my palate some lacked balance. The menu is one which lends itself to sharing, a great way to eat I think. So for entrée we shared a plate of finely sliced culatello (cured pork rump) from the Salumi selection, ‘Baccala Fritto’, crispy-fried salt cod balls with lemon and aïoli, a succulent lacticly sweet ball of Mozzarella di Bufala from the Formaggi selection (served with good hot focaccia) and, from the Crudo menu, ‘Raw White Fish, Roasted Fennel Seeds, Air-dried Chilli, Mint’ (which was a touch too acidic for my taste).
For mains we tried ‘Orecchiette, Cherry Tomatoes, Ricotta, Basil’, good pasta in a rather bland, ricotta-heavy sauce, ‘Our own Pork Sausages made from 100% Black Berkshire Free Range Pigs, Lentils, Pearl Onions’, which must have been excellent as they disappeared rather quickly and I never had a chance to try them. ‘Veal Shank Wet Braised in Milk, Mash Potatoes’ was a dish that presented very well in a blue enamelled cast iron pot, but may have been an acquired taste as I found it a bit flabby and ‘wet’. My choice of ‘Zampone’, pig’s trotters filled with house-made cotechino, celery, marjoram and cime di rapa’ was nicely deboned, although it could have done with a pedicure prior to service (long nails were still present) but the sausage meat was dry, lacking fat and that wonderful gelatinousness that I expect from a sausage made with pig’s head and skin.
We shared two desserts: an interesting take on affogato, which included a hot chocolate sauce and Ardbeg 10y/o as well as the coffee and gelato (it tasted good, but the whisky was quite strong and seemed an odd choice for such an Italian dish), and ‘Baked Chocolate Pot, Chocolate Pearls’, a superb rich chocolate mousse with crunchy ‘pearls’ of chocolate scattered across the top. Coffee was excellent.
Guiseppe Arnaldo & Sons is a casual diner in the trattoria style, serving fresh produce to large numbers and turning tables fairly regularly. Value for money is reasonable and if you want a quick, casual bite in vibrant surroundings in the Crown complex it’s worth stopping by.
Score: 6.5/10
For more information go to:
Guiseppe Arnaldo & Sons
Crown Casino
Melbourne
Tel.: 03 9694 7400