Russo & Russo
The restaurant where the knowledge of two generations come together to provide one amazing meal.
Walking into this small restaurant hidden behind a draped white curtain on Enmore road exposes a dime of a restaurant. A place where traditional recipes meet new and creative ideas, and provides a dining experience which you will reminisce for years to follow. The calm environment sets the mood for the dining experience, one which you will leave relaxed, satisfied and most defiantly full.
This restaurant encapsulates all that is amazing about the cuisine, combining classic Italian philosophy of fresh produce for maximum flavour, together with modern techniques for what is the new generation of Italian food being revealed to the Australian palate. There will not be any arancini or classic lasagne on this menu, however it does consist of pillow soft gnocchi, silky fresh homemade squid ink pasta and mortadella mouse croquets that really get the taste buds jumping.
Once seated, a negroni was ordered to open the stomach for the pending meal ahead. After sipping on my drink and taking in the calm ambience, I finally got around to opening the menu, which featured wild venison carpaccio, fried Jerusalem artichokes and char grilled Fremantle octopus, just to name a few starters. We opted with the mortadella mouse croquet, which was a bite of childhood wrapped in a delicate crisp pastry. Following the croquet’s we moved onto the fried Jerusalem artichokes, with fennel, Agrodolce Cumquat and caramelised onion. A well-balanced dish which ticks all the boxes between sweet, acid and fat with the gorgeous fried artichoke to bring together all these flavours.
Following the entrees, my negroni being distant memory at this stage of the meal, we had moved onto a delicious Pinot Nero from Lombardia. Sipping on wine and enjoying each other’s company, we opted to share our mains and the sequence of dishes come one at a time. It only seemed fitting given the ambiance and the dishes on display.
Homemade squid ink stracci, with mussel crema, Fraser Island spanner crab and chilli. Again, another great dish with perfect balance. The homemade stracci was silky smooth, with the light sauce coating every ribbon of pasta perfectly, along with little white gold flakes of spanner crab scattered around the plate. The background heat of the chilli bringing together an exceptional plate of pasta.
To follow the pasta we had moved onto gnocchi, a decision that I had zero regret making. The homemade gnocchi was served with a suckling pig ragu, spiced quince and marjoram. The balance of fat, acid and sweetness was on point. The texture of the gnocchi was like that of a soft pillow resting against my tongue, and again seasoned perfectly, a win in anyone’s book.
To finish we opted for the espresso panna cotta served with buckwheat, Poli Grappa “Café Coretto”, and coconut, and of course a nice amaro Montenegro on the rocks with a wedge or orange, the perfect way to end a meal.
Upon leaving we were handed back our jackets and farewelled with big smiles from the whole team, a nice ending to a night out which will be remembered for many moons ahead.
