Cork: Ristorante Rossini's winning formula
ANY country where the grandchildren of those beguiled by the bombast of the bizarre bully Benito can be serially seduced by the sleazy Silvio must have a genetic sense of the absurd bordering on the seditious.
Any more or less rational, grown up, fair-minded society would have seen, and would see, these dangerous midgets for what they were and are and — hopefully — put their faith in leaders with very different qualities.
It is equally true though that Italy more or less invented western art. Italians, and this can sometimes collapse into mere vanity, also regard style as an imperative of the soul. No-one, not even the French or the most ostentatious WAGS or newly opulent rapper, does public preening better. Every shining window a mirror, every fashion faux pas a catastrofe. !
If Italians took their debt to GDP ratio as seriously as they take hemlines, the cut of a jacket or the line of an Alfa Romeo’s roof then their economy might not be a landmine waiting to sunder the eurozone. That we can escape any such charge only on an issue of scale does not make the accusation any less valid.
Just as we have adapted Italian fashions to a climate other than the balmy one they originated from — and occasionally put tow bars on Alfa Romeos! — we have brought twists to Italian food that makes it sit a shade more comfortably in our culture. We have shoehorned the great variety and journey of an Italian meal into our inviable holy trinity — starter, main course and dessert. And it is not always a good fit. And we’re to blame, not the Italians trying to make a living running a restaurant in Ireland.
On the night we enjoyed the prosecco atmosphere in Ristorante Rossini, which could be fairly described as a decent mid-range city centre restaurant, we followed the 1-2-3 meal structure familiar to us all and may have done the food a disservice.
DW began her evening with a dish of avocado and prawns. It was bright, as fresh as could be. The prawns were excellent and the salad crispy. It did exactly what it promised on the menu.
I chose minestrone and it was really just a tepid, unambitious vegetable soup coloured with tomato puree. The beans and rings of pasta, the slivers of bacon and the occasional greens, the shake of parmesan, that make this dish the chunky, heartening treat it can be, were sadly absent.
DW chose one of those sampling dishes for her main course — Tris Alla Rossini. Basically three portions of pasta, one canelloni, one fettucini and the third lasagna. Two were fine and one just so so. None memorable.
I chose Rossini’s carbonara, the standard spaghetti with a cream and bacon sauce dish. It too was exactly what it promised on the menu, an entirely serviceable plate of creamy pasta. It would have been enhanced by a few mushrooms but that might have offended traditionalists who might have preferred if the bacon had been crispy enough to add another layer of texture.
All of Rossini’s pasta is made in house and none of their 17 pasta dishes breaks the €20.00 threshold.
Desserts were a mixed bag. DW’s apple pie with raisins and pine nuts was dramatically over sweet and the pastry stodgy. My chocolate and amaretti fudge cake with orange sauce was better but not spectacular.
The wine, a Castellani Chianto Classico 2010 — €33.00 — was robust and a good counter point to the unctuous pasta sauces.
The service was exceptional and live music — sentimental American songs of immigrant longing sung in an Italian restaurant in Ireland — added to the very welcoming, warm atmosphere.
Rossini’s would be a good place for a lively social evening if the emphasis was not primarily on food — there was nothing on the menu that would defy a decent home cook. Tips cannot be paid by credit card.
Rossini’s was established nearly 20 years ago by Antonio Toscano and its continuing popularity suggests they have found a winning formula.
