La Dolce Vita does the best Italian food in the country, writes Tom Doorley.
The two places where I regularly take lunch happen to be Italian and I don't know what that tells you about me or them. Except, of course, that the grub has to be good and the prices reasonable. They are Bar Italia, beside the Civic Offices in Dublin, where I always hope that the special is gnocchi with mushrooms; and La Dolce Vita in Wexford, where timing is everything. This is because the people of Wexford know when they are on to a good thing.. Arrive too late or too early for lunch and you'll wait ages for a table. Dinner is not an option. After a lifetime in the restaurant business, chef/patron Roberto Pons likes to work like a demon during the day and have the evening off. Sensible man.
La Dolce Vita is not much to look at. At least from the outside. The striped awning and - let's face it - the name could just as well front the kind of pizzeria that offers sweetcorn and pineapple as toppings. Step inside, however, and browse the menu, and it's a different story. Even before you taste the food you know you're somewhere good. It goes beyond the menu, of course. Shelves full of exquisite dried pasta, durum wheat flour, olives, truffle pastes, flavoured oils and superb anchovies suggest passion and quality. The fact that they are all directly imported underlines this.
La Dolce Vita, in my view, does the best Italian food in the country. It's unpretentious, rib-sticking stuff and the most expensive main course costs - hold your breath - €11. Fashionistas have been known to complain that the fresh pasta dishes are not quite al dente, unaware that this is, quite simply, the Ligurian way. Tagliatelle al pesto may seem a trifle soft but it's still a deeply comforting dish. And bear in mind that this is what it's like in Genoa, home of real pesto.
True to its club-like atmosphere, we met half a dozen people we know when we repaired there for an early lunch recently. We kicked off with a shared antipasto misto for €8.50 (buttery Parma ham, salami of two kinds - both perfectly aged and consistent in texure, well flavoured mortadella, roast peppers, aubergines and artichoke hearts). We also shared a starter portion of gnocchi verdi al burro e salvia - four big flour-based gnocchi flavoured with spinach, nutmeg and ricotta served with brown butter and sage leaves. A main course of this (at €7.50) with a glass of wine and an espresso would set you up for the day. Or knock you out for the afternoon, depending on your constitution.
Main courses of salsiccie con lenticchie and branzino al salmoriglio were simply ace. Italian sausage - dense, meaty, salty - formed a perfect counterpoint to small, chunky lentils spiked with lots of green, pungent olive oil. The branzino, or sea bass, was grilled until perfectly a point and was served with salmoriglio which, as fans of the River Café cookbooks will know, is fresh thyme pounded with salt, lemon, pepper and olive oil. Its sharpness counterbalanced the richness of the fish while the herbiness picked up on its earthiness. Yum.
La Dolce Vita's tiramisu is legendary: light sponge soaked in coffee so strong it makes you blink, balanced with rich, whipped mascarpone. This is a dessert that manages to be rich but refreshingly unsweet. Panna cotta was as smooth as silk, sweet and vanilla scented, served with a sharp raspberry coulis. Yin and yang, right enough. Two espressos were just like you get in Italy - short and breathtakingly strong. With mineral water and four glasses of wine (we could have got by, at a pinch, on two, but will order a whole bottle next time), the bill came to €60.45.
WINE CHOICE: The wine we had was the crisp, fresh Roero Arneis Sylla Sebaste. Arneis is a grape of which we should be seeing more and at €5 a glass, with its lightly frizzante style, it was perfect with our meal. There are 38 directly imported Italian wines, and 18 available by the glass, most at €4. Highlights include Rosso Conero Falorni from the Marches at €16.90, Moresco i Mori at €31.85, Refosco Le Monde at €16.60 and Dolcetto d'Alba Veglio at €14.45. Most of the wines are from small producers, and cost less than "house wines" in virtually every restaurant in the country.
La Dolce Vita, 6-7 Trimmers Lane, Selskar, Wexford (053-70806)