Salvatore Pepe of Cibo fame opened this restaurant after a long absence since the close of his North Adelaide restaurant years ago.
I didn't get to sample what he did in North Adelaide but it had great reviews back then when there was only a sprinkling of great restaurants in Adelaide.
Wintry days, one tends to go for comfort foods and I consider pasta being one, the body craves carb. as well as a rich ragu to go with it. A big red would go down well too but we abstained. There may be great shopping to follow, who knows.
The restaurant is situated at the end of the 'Fashion Mall' right next to Zara and it has a great outdoor area which would have been ideal for warmer weather. Deco is Italian and a big poster of a red 'Vespa' behind the coffee machine is a sure sign of being Italian.
The open kitchen and counter area with a display cabinet line one side of the restaurant.
For lunch, we chose a lighter pasta with fresh salmon with cherry tomatoes and chilli and a shredded duck ragu with porcini pasta dish. The duck dish was heavy as expected and salty for our taste and lacked the taste of porcini. The salmon pieces were overcooked for my liking and pity that fresh chillies were not used. Definitely both dishes filled us up, the servings were reasonably sized for lunch.
Service was not top notch as we had to ask for both water as well as the bread. The bread was nice and warm but we had to ask for both butter and olive oil. Not sure how the Italians eat their bread, but I think they eat it with the pasata from the pasta dish when all the pasta are gone. If we were given nice warm bread, I just love to see the butter melted into the bread for sure. We asked for the bread as we were quite hungry waiting for the meals to be served.
We didn't stay to sample the dessert, perhaps one day if I happen to be in the Burnside Village for shopping, may pop in to try that with a nice cup of coffee.
The restaurant was buzzing this weekday lunch time with either shoppers or ladies group or may be some Salvatore's followers, quite a mix. read more