Ron O’Bryan’s kicking goals for Richmond at Church Street Enoteca

Wine sir? Church St Enoteca, 527 Church St, Richmond, Victoria, 3121 +61 3 9428 7898 Full Church Street Enoteca photostream here.

Saturday night is really bustling here. The room is huge and all people great and small are really enjoying themselves.

I’m happy as I nab one of the banquet’s that define the art deco space. We’re all happy although perhaps that is something to do with the bottle of Billecart-Salmon we downed and a merlot, which was better than the name “Bitch” promised, at home. And good food – bloody excellent food – and wine help together with an experienced team of waiting staff – rather than the 12 years olds that some high-end restaurants are employing – mean the night was one worth repeating. Yes, I shall return.

Sweet corn pannacotta

Despite the name this isn’t what I’d call an Enoteca – a sort of Italian wine shop of cellar – but a smart restaurant with a 300-strong Italian focused wine list with a couple of handfuls for less than $50.

I’m here because myself and chef Ron O’Bryan have been mutually following each other on Twitter. What I’ve heard about is his green pea soup with parmesan marsh mallow and the stuffed pig’s trotter served with lentils. What I eat doesn’t dissapoint. The soup ($16) is pure pea flavour in a stemless wine glass complemented with the cheesy cube of marshmallow. The food is seasonal with a few specials mixed in for good measure.

And funnily enough an hour or so after I tweet my menu choices O’Bryan – who is checking the football scores, natch- noticed that I’ve tweeted his menu. He comes over and says “hi”.

Pea soup? I can.

The twidow – Twitter widow – goes for the wobby essence of pure corn, the Sweet corn pannacotta ($22) which comes with broad beans and a truffle scented salad also presented in a stemless glass.

And the Zampone ($35) or pig’s trotter? Everything promised. Boned (apart from a few toe bones), it’s filled with cotechino and surrounded with Mt Zero lentils and celeriac. Plus it comes with a spinach ball – as seen on Masterchef. It’s got that whole rustic rich porky thing happening that fits right into my month of eating nothing but pork.

We’re happy. And what impresses me next is the pudding menu. Too many – even high end – Italian restaurants cop out and serve clichés. When I go out I don’t really want ice cream with every dish. And I’m fed up with seeing Affogato, perfectly good ice cream drowned in fairly average Lavazza/Vittoria coffee and some rough alcoholic spirit.

O’Bryan has made an effort with pudding although he complains the layer of coconut and mango passionfruit gel on the Brillat-Savarin ($16) cheesecake is too thick. Twidow doesn’t care. She loves it for being the antithesis of those over sweet American cheesecakes.

Meanwhile, the rest of us order a couple of real plate lickers. The important one to note is called “”Pudding” (16),
white chocolate and hazelnut with a liquid centre, banana mousse, bitter chocolate sorbetto. Yes, that the one oozing.

But wait there is more. I reckon one sign of the care and attention to detail at a restaurant isn’t just the food and wine. But the coffee. Nespresso machines and Lavazza aren’t good enough. If you go to the trouble of selecting the finest produce and wines the you should also go to the trouble of selecting fine coffee beans. The choice is Veneziano, a Richmond roaster that consistently trains award-winning baristas.

And that’s just another sign that something pretty damn good is happening at The Church Street Enoteca.

Tagged as: Church St Enoteca, Ron O'Bryan