Vincenzo Ristorante Italiano

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The Seductive Italian

A Mediterranean-inspired ambience and clarity of flavours make Vincenzo hard to resist

• 12 September 2005
• The Edge

We felt like we were in a trattoria in some temperate country or other. Outside, cars may have been whizzing by along busy Jalan Ara, but cocooned as we were within the four walls of Vincenzo Ristorante Italiano, we were oblivious. We had been transported to another place altogether, a place where time moved slowly and people indulged in leisurely meals with wholesome food and good company.

The interior of Vincenzo has an unmistakeably Mediterranean flavour, rendered by the terracotta-stained cement floor matched with brick pillars and brick serving counter that lend a cheerful, down to earth touch. Plain white shelves lined up against the walls hold a variety of wine bottles and emphasise the theme of simplicity. This is a place where you will feel right at home.

Yet it is by no means plebeian. No if the simple and the stylish can co-exist, this is a fine example. Vincenzo also has a distinctly classic ambience, perhaps due to the large glass windows dressed in sheer white drapes that shut out the world and give the place just a hint of grandeur. White tablecloths and olive chairs enhance the elegance. Outside, a wooden deck holds more tables for al fresco dining beside a well-manicured, sun-speckled lawn that meets a grassy, flower-strewn embankment reminiscent of a Mediterranean hillside. Can you blame us for thinking we were somewhere else?

Service was prompt. Menus were whipped out and placed in our hands by a friendly maitre d’ who plied us with water, wine and bread as we wrestled with what to eat. Decisions, decisions. We settled on three starters to share to be followed by pasta dishes for the main course.

The parmigiana, a signature dish of the restaurant, arrived first. Ah, eggplant, the most supreme of fruity vegetables, which is why it remains a firm favourite with us. Vincenzo’s chef did a fine job on the parmigiana. Eyes closed, wwe savoured the richness of the eggplant, which was redolent with chewy cheese and delicately flavoured with basil. Sometimes, sticking to the basics and doing it well speaks volumes more than culinary gymnastics, and this is a case in point.

We moved on to the pan-seared foie gras next. Traditionally, foie gras makes a good companion for fruits like peach and pear, but Vincenzo’s chef decided to add a tropical touch with pineapple tartin and served it with portobello mushrooms. It was a good effort, but if there was any fault in this dish, it lay in the consistency of the foie gras. It was, simply put, too chewy, too fatty.

The antipasti dish was much better. We’d ordered the vegetarian version on account of the Ed (yes, she was still going through the veg phase then. She’s moved on to fish since, thank goodness). The antipasti is a combination of five starters that are decided upon by the chef, depending on what’s available and we suspect, his mood. He was clearly in top form that day because the Ed waxed lyrical about what he had concocted. There was cold eggplant, mushroom crepe, tomato and cheese salad, asparagus and fried mozzarella. Full marks, said the transient vegetarian.

Having whetted our appetites, they brought on the pasta. Hearty, wholesome pasta to warm the cockles of the heart. There’s nothing arty farty about Vincenzo’s pasta, thank goodness. None of that nouvelle cuisine nonsense. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with nouvelle cuisine, if it’s served up in the right context, but a place that is fashioned after an Italian ristorante had better not mess with tradition.

The pastas at Vincenzo not only passed the test, they won us over completely. Let’s start with the lasagne. We’ve eaten it in many places but most of these offered the ubiquitous, cloyingly cheesy version that leaves you feeling jelak after three mouthfuls. Vincenzo’s had just the right balance, it was rich yet light. If that appears to be a contradiction, it’s one we approved of. It had a freshness that could only have come from a tomato paste made from scratch and the refined nature of the dish was probably achieved with just the right amount of quality cheese and herbs.

Vincenzo ‘s pesto gambaretti was outstanding, among the best pesto dishes I have ever had. Fresh basil, olive oil, chopped chilli, prawns and capellini all held their individual characters yet their flavours melded together into one glorious Italian experience. Sigh!

The aglio olio mushroom was also commendable, the earthiness of the mushrooms adding an interesting element to an otherwise unadorned, honest dish.

We had two other seafood pastas that proved to be equally exceptional: a scallop, smoked salmon and prawn spaghettini with white wine sauce and capellini in a smoked salmon and cream sauce with lumpfish caviar. My only complaint about the former is that it was a little heavy on the oil; otherwise it was fine. The smoked salmon pasta was profoundly good – precise, intense flavours that worked as a jigsaw rather than a melange, allowing you to taste the caviar, salmon, tomato and cream without any one dominating.

Dessert proved to be equally gratifying. We’d ordered the tiramisu, nougat chocolate parfait and Tuscany poached pear. The plus point for Vincenzo’s tiramisu is that it is not the cake version (which we consider to be a mere impostor). I’m afraid, though, that it didn’t match up to our stringent standards for tiramisu. There wasn’t enough coffee or liqueur in it and the cream dominated. But the rich, velvety chocolate parfait made up for it – it melted like a soft dream in the mouth and left us sighing for more... The spiciness of the pear dish came as a bit of a jolt after that, especially in the light of the slightly bitter aftertaste it left on the longue.

Asked to describe what excited me most about dining at Vincenzo’s, I would have to reply that it was the clarity of flavours in the pastas that made the greatest impression. The starters and desserts rounded off a good meal and the ambience and great service on the day we went were akin to the icing on the cake.