foodcritic Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Having heard about this place for quite a while I’m surprised it took me so long to go and sample their fare. Being born in Sheffield and spending much of my life here this is exactly the sort of venue I’ve been waiting for. I’m sorry to succumb to vanity here but the high ceilings, floor to ceiling glass, large banquette seating, open plan kitchen etc. It reminds me of Keith McNally’s Balthazaar (Broadway & Spring //nyc) but without the pedigree. Piccalino is no Mickey Mouse outfit; they are part of the group the Individual Restaurant Group PLC. This their 17th branch not including the other brands Zinc, Bank and Restaurant Bar & Grill. With restaurants being about passion and good ingredients how does the gargantum plc fare with its loyalties ultimately with the shareholder and not necessarily the stomach? They did all right. The Maitre’d was a highly polished individual, an American (or for the sake of being PC north American) accent. Immaculate shoes and the crispest suit the girls had seen on a long time apparently. There were 4 of us on this occasion and the restaurant was approx 60% full. Upon arrival with no booking to our bow we asked for a table. The American yelped that they were really busy at the moment and the kitchen was inundated for orders so how about we just stand at the bar and get a drink. No problem my auto pilot responded but inside I wanted the maitre’d to know that my newly purchased Oliver Sweeny shoes hadn’t been broken in yet and I needed to sit – now! We ordered a bottle of pink fizz ‘cause the girlz love it so. The girls then went off on one like an eastenders bitching session ‘why can’t they seat us down with drinks and take our order later ‘my heels are killing me ‘yap yap yap yap I did however agree with them, seat us down with drinks, explain the situation and send out some nibbles on the house as a gesture of goodwill. Yes it really is that basic. The food is kind of fool proof, you can’t really go wrong with Italian and with the arrival of Jamie Oliver and his whole ‘jusshing’ up of Italian food – well that’s what you get here. To start we had Antipasto Primi and Misto. They were a selction of canapé style foods served on those fruit de mere stands you see everywhere in the bistro’s of France. All were very good; the plate demonstrated good balance between flavour, colour, textural balance, good seasoning and acidity levels. They didn’t god nuts with lemon juice like Oliver does. The wild mushroom risotto my buddy went for was good, the right amount of creaminess being extracted from the Arborio rice, it would have been nicer with a touch more acidity to cut through the cream. A lemon olive oil perhaps? The girls went for pasta’s one of them salmon and dill (classic but none the less good) and the other was a mixed seafood dish. A quick bat of the eyelids and she’d secured extra seafood from our male waiter. Flirting gets you everywhere. I plumped for Costata di Bue con Patate. Basically a rib-eye steak with roasted rosemary and garlic potatoes. I avoided the fillet because I often find the rib-eye has so much more flavour, why people go for chicken breast meat when they could for leg is beyond me. In context to the potatoes there was little evidence of rosemary and garlic, maybe the over worked kitchen forgot? They are both robust flavours and I doubt that even the copious quantities of pink fizz will have masked my ability to pick those up. Meat and two veg, you cant go wrong I suppose. Desserts were skipped in favour of finishing the meal with a selection of cocktails at 23. Food 7/10 Service 4/10 Ambience 8/10 Total 19/30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick2 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Too wordy and smug, like something you'd find in a Guardian food magazine about Tuscany. I got bored reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foodcritic Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 food war aaah-k. wunt ger bak. laf tho. x sorry nick for polluting your mind with my worthless junk. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Moomin Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 food war aaah-k. wunt ger bak. laf tho. x sorry nick for polluting your mind with my worthless junk. x Well I like you reviews. I can read them and actually feel like I went along on the night out. Seems like we rate the same sorts of things as important too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_jim Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Too wordy and smug, like something you'd find in a Guardian food magazine about Tuscany. I got bored reading it. Thank god it wasn't just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick2 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 sorry nick for polluting your mind with my worthless junk. x Your words flow over me like warm Acacia honey over an innocent young virgin, teasingly you promise so much yet deny me any pleasure, I float, mesmerised, of a cushion of warm, fragrant air, then gently slip into a deep, dreamless sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry_Legs Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Your words flow over me like warm Acacia honey over an innocent young virgin, teasingly you promise so much yet deny me any pleasure, I float, mesmerised, of a cushion of warm, fragrant air, then gently slip into a deep, dreamless sleep. Sounds good. Is this on Ecclesall road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulmat Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Nope. By the Winter Gardens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swordfish1 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Too wordy and smug, like something you'd find in a Guardian food magazine about Tuscany. I got bored reading it. And me. Did he like it?I didn't get to the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Moomin Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 If you don't like the reviews then don't read them - I mean if you see Foodcritic has started a thread titles with a restaurant name, just surf on by! He's obviously putting some time into providing some sort of service here on the forum, so why all the griping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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