Lunch @ Cafe Latte

It's Labour Day long weekend and we've headed to Malvern Road to try our luck for lunch. As it happens Cafe Latte is open and as we hadn't been here for a few years we decided to check it out. A fortuitous decision as we're greeted by familiar faces on the floor.

If you've ever been to Il Bacaro you'd immediately recognise the smiling visage of Alfredo who is now in charge of the floor here at Cafe Latte. When it came to ordering, we sought Alfredo's advice and ended up with a little Italian feast.

It began with two dishes to share:

Prosciutto, Figs, Buffalo Mozzarella, Vincotto

A classic combination - freshly sliced Italian Prosciutto, figs, roughly torn pieces of milky buffalo mozzarella, a drizzle of vincotto and some excellent crispy crisini.

Calamari Fritti con Rucola - Fried Calamari with Rocket

Good tender calamari with a nice crust, served with lemon on side and simply dressed rocket.

For pasta:

Agnolotti con Pollo e Porcini - Agnolotti filled with Chicken served in a porcini sauce

The agnolotti are quite large but well cooked - the porcini sauce is wonderfully rich and moorish.


For mains:

Galletto all griglia con salsa piccante - Char grilled spatchcock served with wilted greens & house made chilli jam
Scalloppini di vitello con gnocco di semolina - Veal scaloppini with prosciutto, white wine and sage served on a semolina gnocchi

These are two mains that we've shared  - at the front is the grilled spatchcock, quite a nice chilli kick to the flesh that kind of creeps up on you. The spatchcock itself is moist and tender. At the rear, traditional veal scaloppini, wrapped in a little prosciutto, served with a white wine and sage sauce. It's how you expect it to be, tender veal with nicely balanced sauce.

For dessert:

Tiramisu

To complete the Italian feel, you can't really go past tiramisu. I like the balance, it's not too rich or cloying, good coffee flavour, lightly whipped mascarpone and well soaked sponge.

All up, an extremely pleasant way to spend a few hours that has us pondering our return to Italy.

  The details:

  Cafe Latte
  521 Malvern Road
  Toorak

  Phone: 9826 5846

  Open:
  Breakfast and Lunch - 7 days (from 8am)
  Dinner - Monday to Saturday

  Website: Cafe Latte