Ciao Baby Italiano
Editorial
Ciao baby has bold and charming character baby. It upholds the traditional dishes and flavours that have defined the Italian kitchen – simple and authentic – then plays with the delicacies that contemporary cooking allows. The enticing yet basic starters like garlic bread are a perfect introduction and allow ample space for enticing mains. For something to share the <i>talegio</i> – pungent cheese, truffle oil and wilted spinach – is divine. The homemade gnocchi with an ample provision of luscious braised lamb shanks sauce is the perfect example of what Ciao Baby does best, as is the <i>cotoletta di maiale</i> – a meaty tender pork cutlet pan-fried and served on roasted sweet potato and fresh green beans with a complement of braised pear.
Ciao Baby takes up shop in a charming, audaciously red, Victorian building. On entering the vibrant Italiano premises you are met with a more quaint interior that extends a rustic-chic charm from open kitchen to main dining room and even up a wooden staircase to elevated dining and function quarters. On a specials menu filled with freshly-caught seafood, mussels make a regular appearance as do lighter calamari and scallop dishes. If you look past the fruit of the sea you’ll come to a selection of wood-fired pizzas. First on this are the classics like the margherita. These are swiftly followed by more entrepreneurial options like the “anatra” (confit duck, spinach, mushrooms and sour cherries) and the “europea” (salami, fetta, olives, spinach, anchovies and Swiss brown mushrooms). Tradition, colour and character – there are plenty of reasons why this Italian haven has a strong pack of regulars.
Katharine Chapman, December 2009
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