Di Stasio Citta
9/10 on Wednesday 25 September 2019.
THE SCENE
The Walrus: The St Kilda (and original) version is one of my favorite restaurants in Melbourne. The new city version is excellently decked out in an industrial minimalist fit out with various video installations on the walls providing diners with “moving art” to watch. The bar is front and center along the back wall drawing you in easily and prompting you to kick off with some pre-dinner drinks. 9/10
The Carpenter: The city based satellite restaurant of St Kilda’s Cafe Di Stasio is a dramatic modern space, in stark contrast to the original’s traditional Italian decor. Soaring ceilings, concrete walls, mutiple videa montages projected on the walls. The Rolls doing circle work in the red center gets a little monotonous after the 42nd run through, but still makes for an engaging space. Plenty of good energy in here - and packed on a Wednesday night. Lots of big tables, although ours was a small one tucked against the wall near the back. The bathroom was the most technologically advanced we’ve seen - star trek style space door activated by a non-obvious button. And the locking took three tries to get right. Marked down for the little table for two. 7.5/10
POTATIONS
W: Again we led off with our usual gin martini….slightly dirty with fresh olives. This time we went with Sipsmith Gin. The barman delivered a cracking version. Very nice indeed. In order to stimulate the hunger a bit, I suggested we down an Amaretto sour each. Beautifully made with just the right amount of foam. Very hungry now. 9/10
C: My initial interaction with the barman (a bit too sophisticated to call himself a mixologist - probably goes with somelier) wasn’t very good - I asked for the usual slightly dirty gin martini with some gin suggestions - I was told not to waste time with anything other than Tanqueray. I insisted on some choices and landed on Sipsmith. Turns out he can make a cracking martini - so despite the initial attitude I enjoyed it. To follow the martini we slipped into an amaretto sour - a little affectation the Walrus has picked up to spark the taste buds. Excellent. Something about the dense foam topping that really capped this off. 9.5/10
ENTREE
W: Since they have basically the same key menu items as the St Kilda restaurant, I went with my usual crumbed scallops with Parmesan and parsley in the crumb. Delicious. 9.5/10
C: Scallops. Crumbed with parsely and parmesan. Tasty. A little bit dry. 7/10
MAIN
W: . I went for my other favorite, the Linguine Con Gamberi (pasta with prawns). This is an excellent dish with the pasta cooked just right (still a bit of texture/bite against the tooth) with just the right amount of olive oil and garlic. Truly a great dish. 10/10
C: Suckling pig served with a baked apple. That’s it. The crackling was amazing. The pig was incredible. The apple was small, perfectly cooked, and delicious. 9.5/10
DESSERT
W: Why break a winning streak…..I finished off with my favorite Di Stasio dessert, the Millefoglie Con Mele with apple and Calvados. The pastry is wonderfully thin and crispy. The cream luscious and the apple still has just a bit of texture and has been lashed with Calvados. Fantastic dessert. 9.5/10
C: Millefoglie con mele - apple caramelized with calvados. Vanilla cream. Thin layers of pastry. A wonderful dessert. Calvados just right. Extremely tasty. 9/10
STICKY
W: Staff recommended a great glass of sweet wine to go with dessert. 8/10
C:. Great recommendation. 8/10
SERVICE
W: Great service as always. Staff make sure they are aware of your progress and keep things moving at the speed you set for them. They made sure we were looked after even after the meal by moving us up to the bar after we mentioned we needed some post-meal libations. 9.5/10
C: Authentic Milanese server - attentive, knowledgable, great. The edgy barman turned out to be a cracking somelier. And the maitre d’ read all the right cues - from jackets to moving us to the bar for the Cap. 9.5/10
OVERALL
W: A fantastic atmosphere has been created in the space by Ronnie Di Stasio. He has successfully brought the food and service quality from the St Kilda restaurant into the city and managed to produce a more sophisticated vibe for customers. This will be a great place to dine, but equally good to drop in and have a drink and a quick bar meal at as well. Well done and I will be back…often. 9/10
C: A great vibe to this place and some wonderful food. Service certainly helped raise the bar. 9/10
THE CAP
W: The standard Boulevadier was had. It was excellently made. It really doesn’t get much better. . 9/10
C: A boulevadier. Very well made. 9/10
