DiVino

Stephen

A LOT OF trendy places deliver in looks alone. DiVino is hugely popular as a meeting and matching place for Mid-Levellers, and has the rust-red velour booths, stone tables, funky music and sensual curves to go with it. But its Latin leanings in the culinary department are also worth your dollars.

This place, its connections stress, is not just a bar. Indeed it isn?t. I tasted ?Carnaroli? risotto with zucchini flowers and saffron ($168) that incorporated small zucchini dice and shreds of zucchini flowers.

I thought the flavour was so intense that the stock used to make the rice had to have been animal-based. I was assured it was a vegetarian dish from start to finish ? the juice wound into the big Arborio grains was skilfully composed from aromatics such as parsley stalks, celery tops, onion, carrot and herbs.

A plinth of swordfish paved with Italian violet asparagus quickly pan-fried with thyme, garlic and chicken broth ($188) was succulent, tasty and presented with wokked asparagus and house-made oven-dried tomatoes and finished in a chicken stock.

New Italian food at its best.

Reggie

FROM THE DAY this place opened, people have not been able to get enough of it. They come here for happy hour and dinner to follow, they come to snack on the cold-cuts platter over a few glasses of wine, and they come here for drinks at night.

One of the reasons is the wine list, which has some 20 choices on offer by the glass.

With the tasty risotto, we were given a Sandalford Element, Chenin/Verdelho, 2001 ($70), which was full of apple and with a nice acidity. It was not a bad match, and the fruit actually came out even more as the wine warmed up.

The swordfish was expertly cooked, with the sweetness of the fish and the sharpness of the thyme, garlic and stock converging harmoniously.

For this dish, we had a Bianco Petrussa 2001 ($98), a blend of tocai, chardonnay, sauvignon and pinot bianco. Its dryness with sweet undertones complemented the dish quite well, while revitalising the taste buds with every sip.

73 Wyndham Street, Central

Tel: 2167 8883