L’Altro Mondo – Dani Valent

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125 Victoria Avenue, Albert Park, 9682 2388

My score: 4/5

When I hear that a chef is doing Italian but with F words (fancy and fusion), I feel worried rather than excited. Italian food isn’t about tricking stuff up. It’s about channelling nonna, having a grand romance with produce and keeping it simple. But when contemporary and edgy is underpinned by respectful and authentic then I’ll stop fretting and start enjoying.

There’s plenty to enjoy at L’Altro Mondo, which feels calm and neighbourly even though chef Domenico de Marco and his partner (ex-chef turned excellent waiter) Elyse Woodward-Brown are pedalling madly underwater. De Marco grew up in Bologna making pasta with mama, then developed his style at Michelin-starred restaurants. Until he moved to Australia he disdained Asian food but, partly through Sydney jobs at Rockpool and Luke Mangan’s Glass, his mind and palate opened. Now he subtly combines Asian elements with bedrock Italian dishes. His delicious pork terrine has a background buzz of Szechuan pepper; sticky beef ribs are braised in kombu stock that’s the base for black bean sauce. Other dishes (silverbeet ravioli with lemon and herb butter, tiramisu nestled in a chocolate sphere) are more traditional yet elegant.

Owning a restaurant is hard. The wobbly balance sheet shows in the preponderance of secondary cuts; no sirloin in sight. But what matters more is the love and inspiration showered on those humble ingredients. Chestnut peelings are used to smoke beef ribs. Pig’s head becomes terrine and cured guanciale. The squid ink rice crisp garnishing rainbow trout was born from an overcooked risotto that De Marco couldn’t afford to throw away. Of course, unstinting endeavour means less if the food isn’t good. But these dishes are great. De Marco reckons he’s sticking around for at least 30 years – don’t wait that long to eat here.

See their website.

More Italian:

Tipo 00, 361 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, 9942 3946.
Named after the best flour for pasta creation, Tipo 00 comes through with silky spaghetti and perfect pappardelle in a simple, heartfelt bistro setting.

Rosetta, Crown Entertainment Complex, Southbank, 8648 1999.
Neil Perry’s Italian restaurant delivers Sophia Loren-style glamour and upscale dishes such as fettuccine with spanner crab, chilli and garlic, and wood-roasted spatchcock with cauliflower gratin.

Tiamo, 303-307 Lygon Street, Carlton, 9347 5759.
Tiamo has been saying ‘ciao bella’ on Lygon Street for more than 30 years. There’s fresh pasta, pizza and classics such as veal scallopini.

First published in The Age, August 9, 2015.

2018-05-04T10:25:40+10:00

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