Osteria di Russo & Russo
I think I have had the best meal I’ve had (and possibly will have) for the entire year. It was an uncharacteristically drizzly August night in Sydney and we sought shelter in Osteria di Russo & Russo. This restaurant has been around for ten years already which is somewhat of an accomplishment nowadays. In my research leading up to the visit, I spied old photographs from when it first opened in 2013 and it looked like the restaurant hasn’t changed inside for several years; even the pot plants seem to have survived the test of time. Situated on the main drag of Enmore, it is cosy but smart, with marble topped bistro tables and dark wood floors and panelling. I was stationed by the window which had a cute white bistro curtain running across it. Burnt-through candles lining one wall of the restaurant were almost sculptural, their petrified waxy remains symbolising in their own way the passage of time.
The menu is designed to share, which is my favourite way to eat. There are so many wonderful sounding things on it, starting from snacks ordered per piece and progressively growing in size until you hit the sweets at the end. They also have a tutto bene (read: set menu) which covers all their classic and most loved dishes, with wine matches if you’re interested, for the wonderful price of $75 per person. Almost all the things that spoke to me on the menu were featured in the tutto bene so we went with that.
My husband is going dry for 114 days and, well, I’m just ethanol-intolerant me. Luckily Russo & Russo have a great selection of house made sodas and non-alc drinks to choose from so I ordered the peach and rosemary shrub. A shrub, for the uninitiated, is a drink whose historic roots lay in the need to preserve fruit, which was done by making a syrup with vinegar. I’ve had many and the acidity factor can vary from tart and delicious to me sending it back to check with that the bartender had intended for it to be that vinegary. Tonight’s was juicy with the grown-up aroma of rosemary, vinegar level set to mild-moderate.
Our tutto bene meal began with a hefty slice of Aleppo pepper and garlic focaccia. Their focaccia is made from a more than 100-year-old sourdough starter so its texture is slightly rougher and spongier than your standard focaccia, which is to be expected (my mum has become a sourdough fanatic since COVID, so I have vicariously discovered the breadth of what one can do with a sourdough starter along with her). The Aleppo pepper lends a sweet fruitiness to the salty garlicky topping and there is exactly enough Coppertree Farms cultured butter to generously go with it. My husband loved the bread so much he was outraged when I declined the offer of extra bread to mop up the last of the duck juices at the end of the meal (in my defence, I wanted to save room for dessert, and he should have been listening harder). Now I know better for next time.
Our snack of the evening was the Wagyu tartare with blood lime and macadamia on pane carasau. The latter is a thin crispy wafer, a flatbread of Sardinian origin that had a nice gritty texture to contrast its luscious passengers. The macadamia had been transformed into a rich creamy bed to the tender red jubes of Wagyu beef. The whole thing was lively with zest and there were some mysterious puffed crunchy bits (was that some black sesame with puffed rice?) that added extra texture. I tried to make my snack last for several bites, it was that good.
A theme began to emerge as dinner went on: there is more to each dish than the description in the menu lets on. Case in point was our next dish, coyly described as a yellow fin tuna crudo with whipped baccala and persimmon. What arrived was so much more complex. The tuna was fresh perfection but the accompanying ingredient were genius. The persimmon was so perfectly ripe it was like biting into a peach. There was another orange-coloured ingredient, segments of mandarin, adding a little fruity bite. Herbaceous notes were contributed by the basil puree doodle (see photo) and toasted buckwheat grouts (also known as kasha) and sesame seeds lent a toasty, earthy crunch. The entire effect was a fabulous array of flavours and textures and reminded me, just, of an Italian styled poke.
Our pasta course was the hand made casarecce with spanner crab, sweet corn, caviar and kombu. The casarecce was thicker and squatter than what I was used to, perhaps not long enough to strangle a priest with as its name suggests but it had a great bite to it. The sauce was, as the waiter put ‘black magic’. It had a creamy mouthfeel without being cream-heavy. The biggest mystery was there was no spanner crab meat per se which was the first surprise, but the second was how did the chef make a sauce out of crab that could taste that good but not be heavy on the crustacean factor? Fine strands of seaweed lend a rich, umami flavour and the sweetcorn and caviar added little pops of sweetness and brininess preventing the dish from being monotonous.
I feel that the Chinese are the kings of duck. However, I’ll now happily change that sentiment to include Russo & Russo as well. Our main course was grilled duck breast with pomegranate and Marsala. Crispy skin check. Rendered fat, check. Pink flesh, check. This duck was cooked to perfection, but the accompanying flavours were nothing short of glorious. The sauce was a sharp and tangy Marsala (and perhaps pomegranate molasses?) cream number, the dish perfectly counterbalancing the richness of duck and cream with acidity. Was I spooning every last drop of this sauce I could get? You bet I was.
The duck course was accompanied by a radicchio and fennel salad with orange vinaigrette which was so perfect in its simplicity. Here I was again, sipping spoonfuls of the delicious vinaigrette once all the leaves were gone, not wanting it to end. The vinaigrette was not too sharp and had a mellow sweetness to it. Russo & Russo are not reinventing the wheel but it’s the most perfectly round wheel there is.
The service at Russo & Russo is commendable, friendly and attentive, almost familiar but not too much so. They were the epitome of hospitality and kindly allowed us to swab the set menu tiramisu for their dessert special, the castagnaccio. This was a chestnut flour cake served like a sundae with marscarpone, hazelnuts, crushed pretzels and date puree. The overall effect is a warm and comforting one, with a little jolt of citrus jelly and a chocolate gelato laced with truffle that lends a welcome but unexpected savouriness to the dessert. The next time I come, I’m not planning to share my dessert with anyone.
I honestly couldn’t fault a single thing. And that’s saying something coming from me. You would be stupid not to make a booking at Osteria di Russo & Russo.
Osteria di Russo & Russo
158 Enmore Road,
Enmore NSW 2042
Ph. (02) 8068 5202