Piccolo Mondo Sandton
So we were surprised to find that the large restaurant – now looking a tad old-fashioned and oppressive – was almost empty when we ate there one Thursday night. Not surprisingly, the menu has rather an Italian influence with a wide selection of antipasti and pasta in addition to meat, chicken and fish dishes.
As the restaurant wasn’t busy we had three waiters hovering around. However, none was very knowledgeable about wine and none could answer the question as to who was the restaurant’s executive chef. It is, in fact, New Zealander Bob Knuckey who worked for Southern Sun before making his culinary name at Pomegranate in Melville before returning to the hotel game to head up the Michelangelo’s kitchens.
However, by the time this article appears, Knuckey may well be gone… A call to the hotel to confi rm the identity of their executive chef elicited the information that “Bob will be being replaced shortly”. The person couldn’t or wouldn’t say by whom.
But back to our meal. The starters were all rather tasty and each ingredient was allowed to speak for itself. The grilled baby calamari was tender and succulent and was served with rocket and a citrus beurre blanc which was light and tangy. The beef carpaccio was topped with Parmesan shavings and rocket and accompanied by a very good olive gooseberry tapenade. Less memorable was the grilled haloumi cheese served with polenta chips and a herb salad.
It was an agreeable start, with the food beautifully presented, but somehow it lacked any real pizzazz. For mains, two of the party opted for the creamy Gorgonzola sauce with walnuts, Italian parsley and crispy salsiccia (Italian pork sausage) – one served with fettucine, the other with pappardelle.
The fettucine was the better option, cooked al dente. Some of the pappardelle had stuck together when it was boiled and there were a few clumps of pasta in the dish. The sauce was a disappointment with neither diner able to pick up the taste of any blue cheese at all. It was a good creamy sauce but had no pungency or indeed subtle bite from the Gorgonzola and thus lacked any balance. The walnuts and salsiccia were plentiful but couldn’t redeem the dish.
We informed the waiter who did ask if we wanted it replaced. We declined but asked him to let the chef know although we never heard anything back from either him or the kitchen.
The fresh linefish of the day came with garlic aioli and sautéed potatoes and was an adequate rather than spectacular meal.
The winelist is large and well thought out and contains many award-winning wines but the mark-ups are high; we paid R260 for a Spier Private Collection Sauvignon Blanc. The cellar price for the 2007 vintage is R75 according to this magazine.
Fine dining should make the customer feel special. Unfortunately the Piccolo Mondo didn’t. It was all rather mediocre and forgettable which is a great pity because there are very few bastions of fine dining left in Johannesburg.
Average three-course meal: R170.
Address: MICHELANGELO HOTEL, NELSON
MANDELA SQUARE, WEST STREET,
SANDTON, JOHANNESBURG
Tel: 011 282-7166
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