133 Murray Street, Perth
Ph: (08) 9225 8000
www.santinibarandgrill.com.au
New City Chic
Located on the first floor of the recently opened QT Hotel on Perth’s Murray Street, Santini Restaurant greets with a modern mix of turquoise and gold décor. As the third restaurant in the hotel group for Executive Chef Nic Woods, he brings a unique vision and plenty of passion to the new Santini. He deserves to be congratulated along with the restaurant’s Creative Food Director Rob Marchetti for recently being named New Restaurant of the Year for 2018 by the Good Food and Wine Guide.
Santini’s classic Italian cuisine is simply cooked with great emphasis on sourcing the best of local, and often small, producers. The distinctive paddock to plate experience has an emphasis on flavour and freshness.
We loved what we saw. Smoking wood fire coals and handmade pasta hung in the semi-open plan kitchen, which has been supplied with premium appliances by Moffat Group. Brian Garcia of Moffat says “The new Santini was fitted out by KBR Commercial using Moffat heavy duty cooking equipment including Waldorf, Waldorf Bold, Convotherm and Paramount pastry and dough mixers.”
To follow was a slightly warmed (apparently the best way to bring out the subtle flavours) entree of Mortadella from Bologna, Italy. It was served with pickles, seed mustard and aniseed sprigs in a thoughtful but simple combination. We paired that with the 2016 Castelli Estate Pinot Noir (Denmark) which added a nice depth.
with Duck Crackling. This came as a hearty medium pasta dish with minced duck infused with a truly masterful peppery, reduced and rich sauce. It came with a side salad of orange, green olive, pickled shallots, radicchio and mint, which was a stroke of genius with the rich, deep flavours of the duck fettuccine. We paired this with the 2015 Speri La Roverina Valpolicella Classico, which was a fruity red with hints of almond, from Veneto, Italy. Truly a wonderful combination of flavours. The duck fettuccine. The orange salad. The Valpolicella. We both agreed these three worked together to create true harmony.We loved the dessert which was a pretty trio of cannoli – one raspberry, one sweet pistachio ricotta, and the best one, a divine chocolate zabaglione filling. All three were nestled on a bed of crushed rose petals, which added a subtle fragrance and flavour of their own. Definitely a winner and their most popular dessert.
The restaurant also has a semi-private dining room for up to 36 guests, and an intimate bar area nestled behind the main restaurant where the cocktails are unique.
We were hooked. We also enjoyed a tour of the gorgeous new rooms of the QT Hotel and the bar on the top floor has become a popular new city location.
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