Mezzo Bar & Grill – Pasta Al Giro

by jeroxie on April 21, 2010

Mezzo
35 Little Bourke St
Melbourne, 3000
(03) 9650 0988
Website
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Pasta Al Giro – A tour of pastas from Pippo’s childhood
$45 per person sharing menu (Menu must be taken by whole table)

Jeroxie was a guest of Mezzo Bar & Grill

I love the bread. And the olive oil from Chapman Hill was perfect. Slightly fruity, quite delicate and complimented the bread flavour. Actually, I could have the bread, olive oil and sprinkling of salt the whole night. I remember one of us mentioned that it tasted quite ‘meaty’. In a good way of course.

Mezzo's bread

Uno – Parmesan and ricotta cappelletti in brodo

This is a really fun dish. For me, anyway. It is served with shaved Parmesan on the side that is to be added into the rather earthy broth. It is a nice and light way to start the meal. The little soft and slippery cappelletti was pretty well made.

Parmesan and ricotta cappelletti in brodo

Due - Guiseppe cocco penne, yellowfin tuna, basil, lemon juice and olive oil

This was a creation from a Twitter competition for the best pasta recipe. I believe the entry was a tuna pasta dish and Joseph added his personal touch to bring this dish alive. It was a great excuse to have more bread to mop up the oily and lemony sauce. The sauce was actually the star in this dish and could do without the tuna in my opinion.

Guiseppe cocco penne, yellowfin tuna, basil, lemon juice and olive oil

Tre – Tortelli of pumpkin, crushed amaretti bisucit, sage butter sauce

I love the subtle sweetness of the pumpkin. There were tiny bits of crushed amaretti that added a contrasting texture against the perfectly made tortellini. I was expecting a little more kick from the sage butter sauce. And will be great if it was a little more generous with the crushed amaretti. Maybe I was just greedy. I like scraping the shared plate for more amaretti and sage sauce with more bread! I was totally addicted to the bread. And I will be using amaretti biscuits for my pasta dishes at home. Totally stealing this idea.

Tortelli of pumpkin, crushed amaretti bisucit, sage butter sauce

Quattro – Cavatelli di messina, asparagus & meatballs, pecorino sauce

I like how the asparagus is thinly sliced at a diagonal angle. It added a nice crunch and freshness to the dish. The meatballs were great. It was moist and packed with flavour. They were quite heavy handed with the oregano that worked really well with the meatball but clashed with the cavatelli and asparagus. In my opinion, it worked better as 2 separate dishes. Yet again, more mopping of sauce with bread.

Cavatelli di messina, asparagus & meatballs, pecorino sauce

Cinque – Giuseppe cocco bucantini with mussels, clams & pepperoncino

Bucantini is type of thick spaghetti pasta with a hole in the center. It is the first time I had it which was why I was wondering why it was so thick! I struggled a little trying to eat it. It was extremely slippery and I made quite a mess trying to slurp it like ramen noodles! More bread please.

Giuseppe cocco buccantini with mussels, clams & pepperoncino

Sei – Spinach ricotta gnocchi with pork & veal sausage ragu

This is my least favourite dish. If you have been a regular reader, you will understand my journey with gnocchi. I am very particular with the type of gnocchi that I like. This gnocchi was a little too dense and lack the fluffiness that I am used to when I make it at home. I also thought the sauce was a little under whelming in comparison to the rest of the pasta sauces. To be honest, it is hard to find a place in Melbourne that serves gnocchi the way I like it.

Spinach ricotta gnocchi with pork & veal sausage ragu

Dolce – Santa Vittoria blood orange & raspberry soda sorbet

The table was definitely relieved that we were served a light dessert after the amount of pasta that we had. The sorbet was a joy and refreshing way to end a nice meal. I thought it is a really clever way to use Santa Vittoria. Since we were given a bottle in our goodie bag, I shall be testing it out!