Our meal at Filini started as all
Italian meals should, with antipasti.
There was a wonderful selection of
salame, prosciutto, hand-roasted
peppers and a seriously tasty
courgette and aubergine salad.
The dish was, most unfortunately
let down by plating; having eaten
antipasti in restaurants from the
humble local in Rome, to the
mighty Jamie Oliver’s in London,
antipasti is served on wooden
boards. It’s like… the done thing.
We just felt that to serve all that,
plus bruschetta, etc. on one round
plate looked too busy, and too
unrefined for a dish that was
utterly exploding in flavour.
Another Italian classic followed,
the timeless classic Carpaccio.
And boy did it arrive. Soft, well
sliced beef, liberally covered in
fresh cracked pepper, shaved
Parmesan and super-fresh rocket
to accentuate that pepper theme.
It was absolutely wonderful but
for –in this humble opinion- a little
one sided, missing out on some
essential marinating vinegar to
provide that much needed acidity.
Although not at all catastrophic,
a few scattered capers would do
wonders for complimenting all
those pepper notes with some salty
tang.
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