“Carlotta has established relations with local producers and growers, but also sources high-quality ingredients from afar, including Italy and Spain,” writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Scotts Crossing, Civic, is the home of new Mediterranean restaurant Carlotta, opened by Chris Lucas, the Australian restaurateur behind Chin Chin in Sydney and Melbourne.
Lucas says he has “witnessed from afar how exciting and energetic the Canberra food scene has become”, making it time for him to venture to the capital.
Carlotta has established relations with local producers and growers, but also sources high-quality ingredients from afar, including Italy and Spain.
It was lunchtime and we settled on Carlotta’s banquet ($88 a head). The wine list is a whopping 34 pages and even has its own index, so be prepared to invest time to truly explore.
Before weaving through the banquet, we ordered drinks to accompany gorgeous oysters (Moonlight Flat Clair De Lune, Batemans Bay, $7.50 each, and Rockefeller, $8.50 each). We waited a l-o-o-ong time before they arrived, so much so that staff had already started to serve our banquet items.
The freshly baked rosemary and sea-salt focaccia was soft and inviting. We enjoyed it with whipped ricotta, chilli and a vibrant herb oil (a couple of us would have loved more chilli, but that’s personal preference).
A winning dish was the vibrant red roast peppers with just the right texture, served with Cantabrian anchovies that did a fine job of elevating the dish. This was followed by Prosciutto di San Daniele, sliced every so thinly and wonderful with fresh buffalo mozzarella sourced from Italy.
We agreed the beef ragu was divine and one of the best we’ve had. The beef was slow cooked and full of flavour, and the Mafaldine (ribbon-shaped pasta) was superbly cooked. It arrived with a crown of intricately shaved parmesan that we mixed through before we divvied up the pasta. This more-ish dish was heart-warming and enveloped us with a big hug.
When one orders the banquet at Carlotta, one doesn’t go home hungry. Next, it was time for grilled chicken, super juicy and joyful to eat. The chicken smelled wonderful, with aromas of garlic, anchovy and lemon.
Broccolini had a lovely crunch and the right level of chilli and garlic. The coleslaw of cabbage and peas had great balance even though, at first glance, we were distracted by the mound of shredded pecorino that hid the other ingredients.
Get ready for a huge service of Tiramisu Carlotta, a truly decadent dessert – rich, creamy and loaded with character.
Service at Carlotta needs to be refined. There was confusion over our seating and our preference next time would be to avoid the tables in the busy “corridor” of the restaurant. We’d prefer window seating and will be back to dine outside. Heaps of staff were on deck with the right intentions, but the service was, in some instances, sporadic.
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