Pane e Vino, Stellenbosch

Today, The Hungry Man and I ate here. I have heard a good deal about it, and I’m a great fan of the spirit that the owners (the Dalla Cia’s) have brought to the Cape (and I’m not not only speaking about their tasty grappa, tsha-boom!). The Hungry Man suggested we eat here, plus drew my attention to a red that they sell called “Special Reserve” which at R100 is great drinking and therefore good value. It’s a real wine, and while “keeping it real” has rapidly entered the murky waters of marketing-speak, the Hungry Man lives this ethos, and, in many respects, so do the Dalla Cia’s.

You may not have heard of Pane e Vino, but you’re likely to have heard of the Dalla Cia family, dad Giorgio the legendary erstwhile wine-maker for Meerlust, now busy with his own operation, which now has a base in Bosman’s Crossing, Stellenbosch, with son George also involved, and his wife Elena cooking at this eaterie.

Don’t know where Bosman’s Crossing is? Well, that is a part of the problem that the wineries and businesses here face. This precinct is supposed to refresh a part of Stellenbosch that has languished, and a few wineries have led the charge, including Stellekaya, Dalla Cia, Vilafonte and the large distributor, Vinimark. In brief, it is behind the Oude Libertas, but has little presence.

Dalla Cia features a couple of wines and that line of grappas. Part of the family, Pane e Vino is a restaurant that sits alongside the Dalla Cia operation and doubles up as their tasting room. It’s directly Italian, in the spirit of keeping it real. When the throngs have arrived, it is a little too real, with Elena trying to slice the cold cuts and attend to the sauces and boil the pastas seemingly on her own (and falling behind an honest hunger). They also post all their meals on one small blackboard at the deli counter, which necessitates unwelcome repeated trips, especially when you see ready-made plates behind the counter (and then wonder, when the microwave pings, if the bell tolls for you).

The Hungry Man and I spoke about a number of issues, mostly rather momentous, so they don’t make great blogging material… the loss of someone close, the dangers of loose lips, the questions of where to be in five years. In a nutshell:

Tagliolini al Limone – a masterpiece of fresh pasta with bright lemon, fresh and springy. Melanzane alla Parmigiana – tough and obviously reheated. Gnocchi di Semolino – rounds of plain semolina, a real Italian dish, naked, all about texture but lacking the diversification of some fantastic parmesan. Saltinbocca alla Romana – chicken given the treatment, tasty enough, but with some tired looking spinach and mash. Vitello Tonnato – a big helping of some rather bland tonnato, though the veal was well poached. Tortellini al Pomodoro – maybe the best dish of the meal, again the pasta was fresh, and the filling good.

It’s an unprepossessing place, so that’s no reason to return. The food quality could do it, but all the plates we tried were R50 plus for a small portion, so they consistently needed to be good to great, which they weren’t. Keeping it real? The waitress explaining a dish on the menu as “cold meats that we sommer (kinda) slice up” – that’s real too.

I’ll return in a while. There’s heart here.

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