Martin FrimetBeautiful Barista gets it bang on
May 1st 2008 00:22
Do other countries do the barbecue with quite as much vim and vitality as Australia? Can anyone outside the US really understand the rules of American Football? Or presidential elections? And how does Kevin Rudd’s Chinese accent sound and do some locals steal a secret snigger when they hear it? Trying to transfer elements of one culture on to another can be a hit and miss affair and it was with that in mind that I turned up an interested eater at Barista by Italcaffe, hoping to find out whether one of Australia’s biggest coffee bean importers could bring an authentic slice of Italian cafe culture into their very own cafe.
To that end, the owners at Italcaffe seemed at least to have chosen the perfect spot. While only seconds away from the bag-swinging and foot-stomping of the Chapel Street shopping precinct, Barista itself sits on a quiet side street which might easily pass for a winding lane in Rome, Florence or Venice. Move closer and, happily, this image does not falter.
While a slick of outdoor seating leant something of a continental vibe, the inside of Barista felt even more inherently Italian. With strong, square design and deep, heavy furniture, Barista by Italcaffe was dark and brooding and good-looking. The menu of sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads was almost arrogantly small and a small selection of magazines and books focused only on the highest-end of modern-day fashion and design. With a self-assured strut, it was the kind of cafe that, if it were a person, would make you take your eyes off the road for just a second. Whether it would continue to hold my attention I was still not sure.
Suitably, my coffee came first and was clearly good quality. Perfectly roasted and yet with a mild flavour, it would have been easy to guzzle the whole thing down in seconds. That I didn’t was testament to the fantastic-looking sandwich that quickly also came to sit in front of me.
My prosciutto, semi-sundried tomato, mozzarella and rocket ciabatta was truly delectable. Vast swatches of both the meat and the tomatoes gave the sandwich a wonderfully thick, carnivorous bite, steamrollering my mouth with whole flavours. Behind that, the other elements in my sandwich were far from under done, with both cheese and rocket plentiful enough to have their say and with all four set in a perfectly toasted ciabatta that was crunchy on the outside but almost egg-white soft inside.
Caffeinated, well-fed and with a tongue still tingling with all the good things I had just eaten, I would have scoffed had anyone suggested then that the best of Barista may yet still be to come, but I would have been wrong. In keeping with its theme of simple ingredients and ideas, the selection of cakes and desserts was a small, easy collection stretching little further than a lemon slice, a friand and my choice, an orange and polenta cake.
It felt like the best choice I had made all year. Softened by a long slick of rich orange syrup, the polenta base became soft and massively full of its orange flavour; with my eyes closed I might easily have been biting into a perfectly sweet orange, freshly picked and peeled. Furthermore, tiny shards of white chocolate chips on the outside of the cake helped to balance out the sweet orange and to add a devilish extra crunch. In short, this was the kind of cake that not only made you take a glance at the road but asked you to stop the car, wind the window down and take a deep breath before you were ready to carry on.
Thus, though there are many things about different people and different cultures that it is impossible to understand, by bringing great Italian style, great Italian coffee and great Italian ingredients together into one cool and calm package, Barista by Italcaffe was massively capable in its efforts to give me a flavour of what my dream trip to Italy might just be like.
Barista by Italcaffe
3A Carlton Street
Prahran
To that end, the owners at Italcaffe seemed at least to have chosen the perfect spot. While only seconds away from the bag-swinging and foot-stomping of the Chapel Street shopping precinct, Barista itself sits on a quiet side street which might easily pass for a winding lane in Rome, Florence or Venice. Move closer and, happily, this image does not falter.
While a slick of outdoor seating leant something of a continental vibe, the inside of Barista felt even more inherently Italian. With strong, square design and deep, heavy furniture, Barista by Italcaffe was dark and brooding and good-looking. The menu of sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads was almost arrogantly small and a small selection of magazines and books focused only on the highest-end of modern-day fashion and design. With a self-assured strut, it was the kind of cafe that, if it were a person, would make you take your eyes off the road for just a second. Whether it would continue to hold my attention I was still not sure.
Suitably, my coffee came first and was clearly good quality. Perfectly roasted and yet with a mild flavour, it would have been easy to guzzle the whole thing down in seconds. That I didn’t was testament to the fantastic-looking sandwich that quickly also came to sit in front of me.
My prosciutto, semi-sundried tomato, mozzarella and rocket ciabatta was truly delectable. Vast swatches of both the meat and the tomatoes gave the sandwich a wonderfully thick, carnivorous bite, steamrollering my mouth with whole flavours. Behind that, the other elements in my sandwich were far from under done, with both cheese and rocket plentiful enough to have their say and with all four set in a perfectly toasted ciabatta that was crunchy on the outside but almost egg-white soft inside.
Caffeinated, well-fed and with a tongue still tingling with all the good things I had just eaten, I would have scoffed had anyone suggested then that the best of Barista may yet still be to come, but I would have been wrong. In keeping with its theme of simple ingredients and ideas, the selection of cakes and desserts was a small, easy collection stretching little further than a lemon slice, a friand and my choice, an orange and polenta cake.
It felt like the best choice I had made all year. Softened by a long slick of rich orange syrup, the polenta base became soft and massively full of its orange flavour; with my eyes closed I might easily have been biting into a perfectly sweet orange, freshly picked and peeled. Furthermore, tiny shards of white chocolate chips on the outside of the cake helped to balance out the sweet orange and to add a devilish extra crunch. In short, this was the kind of cake that not only made you take a glance at the road but asked you to stop the car, wind the window down and take a deep breath before you were ready to carry on.
Thus, though there are many things about different people and different cultures that it is impossible to understand, by bringing great Italian style, great Italian coffee and great Italian ingredients together into one cool and calm package, Barista by Italcaffe was massively capable in its efforts to give me a flavour of what my dream trip to Italy might just be like.
Barista by Italcaffe
3A Carlton Street
Prahran
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Comment by Cibbuano
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I moved to Australia three years ago, I've only lived in Sydney. I've been to many, many bbqs at many different places, and they've all ranked at the bottom of my list. Cheap sausages, plain white bread and burnt onions.
When I first came here, I was eagerly anticipating great bbq, but I've never had the luck of attending one that was any good, except the ones I threw myself.
Kevin Rudd's Mandarin is excellent... not only is his pronunciation incredible, but his grasp of Chinese culture makes him a powerful speaker in Chinese.
Comment by martinf
As for Kevin Rudd's Chinese - I'm sure his accent and ability are excellent (the limited knowledge I have of the language makes me believe that good tone and intonation are actually vital if you want to be understood at all) and I hoped that comment would just come across as a bit of playful imagination rather than anything more accusing!