Sottotono

By EWAN McDONALD for Viva

"I want," sighed Ann, longingly, wistfully, "to pick up my plate and lick the sauce off it." Even though she'd given me only one mouthful of the rich cream of gorgonzola, subtly infused with walnut, and penne, I had to agree. I felt the same about my entree, "the only way to eat pesto": spooned over pasta, boiled potatoes, broad and baby beans.

This was the best meal we'd eaten in a new restaurant since Rocco opened 12 months ago.

Sottotono means "undertone" and this inner-city newcomer oozes that understated style that Italians carry in their DNA. The room - well, it's a bar, mostly - is fashionably spartan, all whites and greys, apart from a back wall dramatically lit in fuchsia. It looks, through ceiling-high arched windows, on to chichi Vulcan Lane. The music, on this night, was Nina Simone. Lots of it.

For Stefano Lacava and Francesca Santino, the husband-and-wife owners, this is their first restaurant in New Zealand. We've been told they have owned restaurants in Italy, but they're known around Auckland for their Safari Lounge on Ponsonby Rd, a live venue for jazz, house and breaks.

Santino is head chef for their new baby, now all of three weeks old, an ambitious venture that's open from early morning until early the next morning, seven days, with menus for breakfasting office workers, lawyers who lunch and the elegant evening meals we enjoyed.

So, back to our dinner. We'd been brought tasters when we arrived, a potato croquette with a subtle eggplant and tomato sauce that suggested there was someone at work here who knew her way around a kitchen.

Those entrees confirmed that. Our mains were updated classics: a saffron risotto, cooked to nutty perfection, strong sweet blackberry sauce and little pieces of lamb fillet (they would have been cutlets in the Milanese original, but these were as sweet); involtini, sliced tender beef rolled with ham and cheese on a potato mash with a delicate jus infused with rosemary (think back to that penne sauce: perhaps this is infusion cuisine?). From a surprisingly small wine list, we chose an honest sangiovese, redolent with the dusty flavour of Old World wines.

Servings aren't large, so it's no embarrassment to order desserts like budino, the Italian version of our chocolate cake and sauce, or an Amaretto-flavoured semifreddo.

Service is attentive, though perhaps the least sophisticated note; and the room, on this winter's night, could have been warmer, more welcoming. Perhaps it just needed more people - we were two of the three diners that night. Go now, before everyone discovers it.

Open: 7 days, 7.30am-late

Food: Italian

Owners: Stefano Lacava and Francesca Santino

Chef: Francesca Santino

Smoking: It's a bar, so . . .

Wine: Short list

Noise: Nina Simone, then DJs from 9pm, Thursday to Saturday

Cost (mains for two): $45

Vegetarian: Stunning pasta, pizza

Bottom line: Sottotono means " undertone" and there is a lot of understated Italian style about this innercity newcomer: the room, mostly bar, in cool whites and greys; cooler jazz; and food, presented with the utmost simplicity, that is subtle and superb. Get there before everyone discovers it.

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