Taste the full Italian breakfast
BREAKFAST or brunch anyone? How about a fry-up – Italian style?
If you're looking for the ultimate Christmas food alternative then a taste of the Mediterranean is a welcome respite from all that rich festive fayre.
In this instance, Taste is the operative word.
The Ecclesall Road eaterie, previously owned by Jamie Bosworth, is now in the capable hands of Marco Zerboni who is fast bringing a little Italian sunshine to the table.
He's very much an all-rounder – he's as passionate about baking as he is about cooking – but believes it's not the recipe but the way you cook that matters.
Marco honed his chefing skills in Rome and it was also the place where he met his English-speaking wife Sarah. He came to England and worked in London restaurants for around 10 years before he returned to his home country to gather his thoughts and a few recipes.
Sheffield was his next port of call two years ago when he opened the bakery in nearby Nonna's before he stepped up for the Taste test.
The good old 'Full English' has been much maligned by some food experts over the last few years. So is Marco's a healthy option? I'll leave you to determine that but it's certainly a very tasty one.
He uses his own recipe for the sausage – it originally came from a butcher in Rome – which contains 90 per cent pork, white wine, chillies, garlic, pepper and a little bread. A banger with bags of flavour.
There's also two good-sized rashers of bacon, black pudding (sanguinaccio) topped with raisins and fried onions, Tuscan-style baked beans, minus the tomato sauce but cooked in roast garlic, sage and black pepper; roast tomatoes, mushrooms and a fried egg.
Last but not least, two slices of toast with extra virgin olive oil and a glove of garlic on a cocktail stick. To spread or not to spread (on your toast) as you so wish. Sorry to say I didn't.
All this for 6.10. A perfect all-day, big-value meal.
If this funtime feast is too much for you, there's plenty of others to choose from.
We went walking in the Dolomites two years ago so M decided to rekindle memories with the Groesti (5.45), a hearty combination of potatoes, sauteed with onion and crispy speck (Italian smoked cured ham), sprinkled with chives and topped with a fried egg, plus the toast and garlic.
There's also the Big Veggie breakfast – grilled smoked mature mozzarella cheese (Scamorza), roast tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, fried egg and garlic-sauteed spinach – a Scamorza Al Fono which is baked in the oven with tomato and olive salsa and the Trico, potatoes sauteed with mushrooms, garlic, chilli and parsley and topped with crispy, melting Montasio cheese.
If the fry-up doesn't take your fancy there's always the sweet, fluffy pancake with raisins, served with apple puree and a dusting of cinnamon, the granola, yogurt and fruit platter (both 4.50) or the bruschetta with nutella, ricotta and grilled pear (3.50).
Pasta dishes, a choice of four, are also served from midday until 3pm (all 6.75) together with hearty mixed salads.
As you would expect the Italian influence extends to the sweet treats. M needed little time to decide on another taste of the Dolomites – the apple strudel. Stuffed full of apples and sultanas and complimented with just the right amount of cinnamon, it was definitely one of those 'mama mia' moments.
As usual with desserts indicision ruled in terms of choice, so in the end I and our two companions decided to ask for a selection of Italian cakes and pastries, freshly baked by Marco. There was bite-size bigne – profiterole-style pastries filled with Italian custard – mini croissants filled with chocolate, a pecan plait and raisin girella and a calorie-busting chocolate truffle. Naughty but what the hell, it's Christmas.
The bustling caf has a few tables downstairs but caters for around 30 in the modern-looking area upstairs. Service is highly efficient and very friendly.
As an added bonus people are now able to taste Marco's cooking on a Friday and Saturday night. At the moment the Bistro offers a five-course feast for 27.50 or you can select individual dishes if you so wish.
Antipasti choices are from 3.95 to 4.95, pasta dishes from 7.50 to 8.25 while the secondi piatti includes a savoury strudel (10.95), roast belly pork (11.95) and beef goulash (12.95). There's a selection of Christmas sweets (3.95) plus coffee from 1.30 – and its Bring Your Own wine…
Our total food bill came to 19.15.
Verdict: Just the sort of place that will lift your spirits on a dismal, rainy winter's day. Good food, great value – a real taste of Italian sunshine.
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Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 8.30am-4pm; Sunday 10am-3pm; closed Monday. Bistro evenings, Friday and Saturday: 7pm-9pm (last orders).
Taste, Zerboni cafe/bistro, 655 Ecclesall Road, Sheffield. Telephone: 0114 2687356.
See all restaurants reviewed by the Sheffield Telegraph on our Food Map .
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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