Restaurant review: Italian and Sons dishing up a menu that any nonna would be proud of

And for me, that is Italian - mostly due to my upbringing in a community filled with Italians. While I had peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, other kids would have homemade pasta - an envious meal no matter how you spin it.

But! It did mean that after-school play dates were always filled with Italian delights, and later on, late-night dishes of ricotta gnocchi with homemade sauce (from the annual sauce day) after we came home from the clubs. (Who needs a greasy kebab when you've got nonna's gnocchi?)

It's because of this upbringing, however, that it can be hard to find Italian food that just hits the spot. A lot of the time it lacks authenticity or maybe even a secret ingredient that only the nonnas seem to know.

Ever since I moved to Canberra, everyone has told me that for the best Italian food in town, you need to look no further than Italian and Sons. And I wish that I had a good reason for not trying it up until now, but I don't.

However, better late than never - right?

We kick off our evening with a simple dish off the cicchetti (small snacks) menu. But sometimes simplicity, done well, is the best option. This was the case with the house wood-baked rosemary focaccia with whipped ricotta and chestnut honey ($16).

The bread itself was dense and lovely, soft and warm on the inside - while still keeping its crispiness on the outside. It wasn't overly herb, with just a hint of the rosemary and some salt seasoning, but I think that when paired with the honey and whipped ricotta that was the right move. When paired with the creamy sweetness of the ricotta and the floral flavours that come through in the honey, it's a perfectly balanced dish.

We follow that up with the fillet of beef carpaccio with fried baby caper and testun al' barolo cheese ($24) from the antipasti selection. The thin slices of the beef just melt in your mouth as soon as it hits your tongue, which then combines with the freshness brought in by the accompanying pesto and a sharpness from the cheese. There is a slight saltiness from the capers but I would have liked a little more - but I am also a caper fan.

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We're both feeling pasta for our mains and luckily, love sharing food, so we both get to try two different options. What's more, when our waiter learns that we're sharing, he ensures that our pasta dishes are plated up and ready to go - bringing out separate plates of half-serves for both dishes.

First out is the hand-cut tagliolini, spanner crab, white asparagus, lemon, chilli and panegrattato ($39). The pasta itself is cooked perfectly, with that right bite to it and that little bit of decadence that comes with fresh, handmade pasta. The sauce with this one is a light option - and I'm so glad it came out first because of this. It had the perfect amount of chilli, giving it a little kick but it didn't overpower the other elements. Plus, it's hard to go past the combo of lemon and chilli. Something about it just works. The crab itself deserved a chef's kiss - not only was it clear that it was good quality crab that had been handled with care, but it also had this mouthwatering consistency that held its integrity until you bit into it. Then it was like a burst of flavour.

Second on our little pasta journey was the rigatoni with suckling lamb, tomato and red wine ragu ($36). It was a richer pasta than the first, in that the sauce had a richer flavour profile - both were equally good, however. And like the first dish, the lamb was just as beautifully cooked, with a slight bite to it and packed with flavour.

Accompanying our little pasta moment we also ordered a cos, red oak, peach and pecorino salad ($13). It had this beautifully tangy dressing that lightly coated the leaves, which paired with the sweetness of the peach, it just added a brightness to the main meals.

Rounding out the meal, how could we pass up on dessert? We opted for two Italian classics - the tiramisu and the cannoli.

The tiramisu had a fluffy sponge with a creamy filling that was oozing out of the sides - in the best way possible. I would have liked a little more coffee coming in the flavour profile since it is a coffee-based dessert. As it stood, I was getting more from the cocoa on top, than the coffee.

The cannolis were paired with ricotta filling and cherries on the side. The shell was perfectly crispy and when you paired it with the filling and side of cherries and the pistachio praline sprinkled on the edges, it was packed with flavour that was easy to get excited about. I would have liked a touch more cherry on the side to keep that going throughout the entire dessert.

That was a relatively minor problem in terms of how we left feeling after our meal.

Italian and Sons' reputation of being one of the best Italian restaurants in Canberra precedes it, and it certainly didn't disappoint. It has that same passion and respect for food that the nonnas had growing up, but translated into a restaurant setting.

It's a little bit of Italian magic, in the heart of Canberra.

Address: 7 Lonsdale Street, Braddon

Phone: 6162 4888

Website: italianandsons.com.au

Hours: Lunch, Wednesday to Friday. Dinner, Tuesday to Saturday.

Chef: Pasquale Trimboli

Noise: Not a problem

Dietary: Plenty of options

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