V Rating: VVV
Where: Ground Floor, 23 Foster Street, Surry Hills.
When: Tues - Sat: 6pm - late. Thurs & Fri - noon - 3pm.
Tel: (02) 9281 3352
Price: Veg Entree: $15 - $20. Veg Main: $25- $30.

La Sala is a collaboration between Restaurant Manager Andrea Mellas (Otto Ristorante, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar) and TV fame chef Darren Simpson (Le Gavroche, River Café, Aqua Luna). 

The restaurant has a swanky bar area at street level, with low tables and long banquette seats. Here you can sip upon some expert cocktails, a mélange of both traditional and inventive.

Down the dark carpeted stairs is the open dining room, which is probably my favourite dining room in all of Sydney. The room is low lit but has a warm glow from the frosted glass candle holders and the delicate wrought iron chandeliers that radiate out from their centres like spidery petals.

The use of dark wood and chocolaty coloured upholstery exudes elegance and the long glass window into the kitchen certainly provides entertainment, especially when you catch a glimpse of the chef doing his thing. I found the room to be very elegant, very modern and yet still extremely warm and inviting.

But let’s get to the vegetarian food!

Let me state first that I am not a vegetarian. So what makes me think I am qualified to write this is that my fiancé, Jonas, has been a vegetarian for the past eleven years: no meat, no fish (I feel the need to emphasise this considering a lot of people who call themselves vegetarians still eat fish).

This restaurant has a separate menu for vegetarians, which includes around eight options and is even listed separately on their website. These can be purchased either as entrees or mains, which means significant variety for the veggie lover. The night we were there, the special was also a vegetarian dish – joy!

For the pescatarians or seafood eaters, there were a lot of options available and I’ll mention those too in case the semi-vegetarians would like to know.

For appetisers I had two Port Stephen rock oysters ($3.50 each), which were simply divine – creamy, a light taste of the sea. We also snacked on a bowl of rosemary and garlic marinated olives ($7).

For entrée, Jonas chose the vedure mista ($16) and received a variety of vegetables, each cooked a different way. Green beans, tossed in olive oil, were topped with a salsa of kalamata olives and pine nuts; long, thin slices of zucchini and eggplant were gently chargrilled; white beans were stewed with tomatoes and topped with fresh oregano; mushrooms had been fried deliciously. What Jonas appreciated most was that every vegetable was enhanced differently and yet the natural flavour of each vegetable was present. They recommended he drink a glass of the 2004 Campagnola Soave Classico ‘Le Bine’, also from Veneto ($11).

I had the carpaccio cipriani ($18) and even though you won’t care because it isn’t vegetarian, it was the best I have ever eaten in Australia, or even Italy. 

For main I had seafood dishes (two entrées instead of a main): first was the caldo vedure ($15), which on this day was an organic kale and cod soup. It was delicious and seemingly pescatarian friendly, but I suspected the broth was not seafood based and found out upon enquiry that it was chicken. V-ware on that one friends!

My second dish was the whitebait and potato pancake ($22), which arrived at the table like a plump, golden blini, flecked with chives, and topped with a quenelle of crème fraîche and vibrantly orange Yarra Valley salmon roe. The pancake was firm and gold on the outside with a soft, creamy interior. The crème fraîche added sour lactic oomph and the robust pearls of roe provided bursts of sweet saltiness. Although very decorative, potentially they could have served less caviar.

The glorious vegetarian main was trule unique: tagliatelle ortiche e gorgonzola ($30). It was the only special of the night and came in entrée and main sizes. This dish used stinging nettles, cooked until they formed a vibrant green sauce. The nettles were then smothered over the tagliatelle, their earthy, verdant flavour contrasting subtly with the light gorgonzola dolce sauce. Topped with a sprinkling of parmigiano this was a subtle yet extremely invigorating dish using rare ingredients. He drank the 2004 Jeremiah One Pinot Noir from Lenswood, South Australia ($9) with the meal, but this is because Jonas loves pinot noir and not because it was a recommended match. He said it worked nonetheless.

For dessert, I pounced upon the mela cotogna ($15), or honey roasted quince. Served with a vanilla ice cream was bright yellow quince flesh, perfectly textured with a soft resistance and smothered in a rich honey glaze. I was really pleased with this choice. 

Jonas was very impressed by the service (he’s a waiter, so that should mean something) and although I am still in two minds, I have to admit my unease is potentially unfounded. The staff were conscious of customer needs and quite attentive, but unfortunately I felt tables of older patrons received that little bit extra. To be fair to the waiters, experience tells them that this is where their big tips will come from, so I can’t really fault them for leaning towards older customers. On the other hand I had to watch the waiter seemingly fawn over the tables next to and behind us. We were treated very well, but I felt they got it better. Jealousy? I honestly can’t say. 

Nonetheless, we were seated quickly and introduced to the only special for the evening, then walked through the menu. We were given time to make a decision and then he returned for any last minute questions before taking our order. My queries over wines to match my meal was answered, although not confidently, which concerned me a little.

The wait staff visited unobtrusively throughout the evening, checking on water, wine and whether everything was to our satisfaction. Courses were delivered with perfect timing in between and overall the waiters were friendly, knowledgeable and professional.

I have only two comments for improvement: first, the tables for two were much too small to fit all our wine glasses, water glasses, olive bowl, oyster plate, breads and olive oils, courses etc etc. Secondly, the room is so dim that it was only through taking photos that I saw how gorgeously presented my food was. In fact, every dish was exquisitely composed – colours were vibrant and beautiful but no diner ever sees this in such romantic darkness. 
The total price for two, including a 13% tip, was $255. We both were pleasantly surprised that the bill was so reasonable – especially when compared to other restaurants of this calibre. It included cocktails, appetisers, 4 entrées, 1 main and 1 dessert as well as 4 glasses of wine and a cognac. A bargain for such a good meal.

This is certainly a place to return to. Prices were very reasonable, produce was excellent and the food coming from the kitchen was superb and provided plenty of vegetarian options. The venue itself is very beautiful, creating a wonderful environment to wrap yourself in for an evening. Highly recommended. 

- Anna, Morsels and Musings.

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