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In line with the Italian pedigree of McLaren Vale, John McGrath discovers a new country gem combining cellar door and restaurant to great effect.
Never heard of the place? Nor had I. Salvatore Pepe tipped me into it. By a circuitous route of course. I didn’t realise I was his foot soldier until Vasarelli’s Chef Roberto Cotugno told me that they were once partners in a very successful restaurant on Jetty Road, Glenelg.
The menu is reassuringly comfortable. In another restaurant you could call it “safe“, and mean it as an insult. Here there is no Spaghetti Marinara but there is Spaghetti allo Scoglio, made with mussels, squid and cockles, tossed with garlic, ripe tomatoes, flamed with white wine. It sounds, looks and tastes spectacular. $19.90/$26.90.
The Vasarellis recommend wines to fit with each course. As this restaurant is also their cellar door, Vasarelli recommend selections from their own wines. Get there a bit earlier and have a quick spin around the list so you can see if your palate matches the pros.
There are also a few Italian beers on a good beer list, and the usual gang of imposters – the international beers made and badged here.
I have missed telling you about the soup in my panic to get to the Spaghetti allo Scoglio. Minestrone Della Nonna. Minestrone, eh? Again it was fabulous. With Nonna on hand to make sure of perfection. Lots of vegetables, not a hint of tinned beans. It was $12.90. We shared the one huge bowl and could have called it quits right then. Back to secondi piatti or main course.
Here are some things we missed on the main course menu: Pollo Marsala, chicken breast stuffed with porcini and taleggio, served with a mushroom marsala sauce, with caramelised onions, spinach and roast potatoes ($27.90) and chicken pie with green olives, preserved lemon and pea mash ($28.00).
One more dish. One that could be the centrepiece of the new Australia/Italy unity flag, Salsicce di Pasquale. This is a snake-like coil of sausages from a pig that Pat has killed (humanely) and gutted himself. They were sausages from another dimension. I am confessing now. I couldn’t eat all the sausages. But leaving them uneaten would be a crime against gastronomy, possibly against humanity. So I asked for a takeaway container – oh, the shame – easily cast aside by the knowledge that these humble sausages could be resurrected back at my place with a little bit of heat. For the first time ever I pleaded for sausages. The first sausage Beatification is around the corner.
The other great eating crime, according to my Mum, was eating dessert before you had finished eating main course. If the chump chops, Brussels sprouts and mashed potato were not completely eaten, then it was no bread and butter pudding for sulky little Johnnie. So we broke my mother’s rules and shared a panna cotta. Wobble factor: 89.95 percent.
The floor staff all seem to be related to one another and even if they are not, they are all very knowledgeable, kind, and considerate.
Try as many wines as possible and settle on your favourites to drink in and take away.
Tripe was on the specials menu, this time, alla Romana. If you are in the burgeoning band of tripe tragics, an epiphanic experience is on the way. Back to the real world. Where is this place?
Vasarelli Cellar Door and Restaurant is on the McLaren Vale Main Road, on the right hand side coming from Adelaide. Vasarelli is another superior country restaurant that has sprung up fully working; with a chef who is sensational, and wants to become more sensational. Chef’s plans for a new kitchen sound pretty juicy.
Vasarelli Cellar Door And Restaurant
169 Main Road, McLaren Vale SA
Phone: 8323 7980
Breakfast: Every day except Tuesday
Lunch: Every day except Tuesday
Dinner: Thursday - Sunday
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