Italians Marco Giannantonio and Maurizio Mastrangelo teamed up to open this authentic restaurant and winebar beneath the Ranelagh Luas station. (They also run an Italian cookery school, catering company and gourmet travel company.)
This Dublin restaurants décor is casual and the offering flexible. Pop in for an aperitivo at the bar en route home on a Friday evening, when every glass of wine come with a little tapas, and pick up something for dinner from the deli counter or from the shelves laden with imported artisan dried and preserved Italian foods.
Or settle in for a full meal, accompanied by a bottle of something from the temperature controlled cellar.
The menu ranges from antipasti featuring premium produce through to interesting main courses (linguine with scallops, crayfish and roe finished with asparagus maybe, or chicken wrapped in Arnad lard and herbs with a lemon butter).
Desserts are homemade as are the biscotti served with the excellent Camardo coffee, and service is delightfully authentic.
Also at: Temple Bar (1 Pudding Row, off Essex Street West; Tel: 01 671 9524)
