Last
week, I was lucky enough to attend the press event for Gino D’Acampo’s brand new autumn menu at his Liverpool My Restaurant. Liverpool is a city that is slowly but
surely becoming renowned for its quirky bars and restaurants and I’m pleased to
say that Gino’s restaurant is everything Liverpool needs and more. The restaurant
is situated on the corner of Castle Street, in the old HSBC bank, and we had the
pleasure of enjoying the glitz and glamour of the night in an old bank vault.
The
restaurant itself was a lot bigger than I was expecting, and was laid out in a
stylish and sophisticated way. It was nice to have a glance around the
restaurant before we were led down to the vault- the Bullion Room- where the event was going to take place. The
restaurant hosts a mezzanine style area overlooking the kitchen, allowing
visitors to watch their food being cooked before their very eyes. The
restaurant was full of hungry diners and smelt of a whole range of beautiful
aromas.
The
Bullion Room, our venue for the night, is a beautiful private dining area that
guests can book out for a range of different occasions, from birthday parties
to business meetings alike. The room hosts a bar, dining area and a games room
with foosball and pool tables ready and waiting to be utilised. Glass of Prosecco
in hand and my blogging pals next to me, I was more than ready to taste test
all the amazing food and drink in store for us. We had the time to socialise
and network with the other people attending, before we were invited to take our
seats.
Hosted
by the charismatic Michela and Giuseppe, the event was an enormous success. Michela
introduced us to the restaurant and spoke all about the vision that Gino had
for his chain of restaurants. I own a fair few of Gino’s cookbooks and rave
about him and his cooking style, so I was a bit gutted that he wasn’t going to
be there himself but he did send us a little message welcoming us to his
restaurant and explaining some of the methods behind his choices. Another perk
of the restaurant is the fact that diners are treated to a complimentary glass
of Prosecco with their meal- a bonus, if ever I knew one!
Finally,
it was time to start munching away on the delightful delicacies that Gino’s had
to offer. We were treated to a platter of antipasti– the Fantastico platter- a
whole range of cheeses, meat and olives to tickle our tastebuds. As a lover of
cheese (in spite of its tendency to upset my lactose intolerant tummy) I was
delighted with the chance to sample quality mozzarella and ricotta. Gino’s
restaurants import all of their ingredients from Italy and this was evident in
the taste- the tomatoes were fresh, the cheese hearty and full of flavour. The flavoursome
addition different meats- salami and prosciutto- only made the experience more memorable.
As Prosecco played a particularly significant role in the evening, the
antipasti board was paired perfectly with a generous glass of the Primo
Prosecco Spumante DOC. We were treated to mushroom and truffle arancine, which were
absolutely phenomenal as well as a platter mix of the classic tomato bruschetta
and a slightly more ‘out there’ bruschetta, that was accompanied with prawns
and chilli mayonnaise!
In
terms of main courses, again, nothing was left to be desired. Giuseppe kept the
wine flowing, ensuring that every dish that we tasted was paired perfectly with
a glass of the good stuff. I was lucky enough to sample slices of The Real
Neapolitan Pizza, the most delicious Italian sausage and friarielli based pizza,
straight from the rustic streets of Napoli. There was also the Super Spicy
pizza on offer, if you so desired, although I personally stuck to the
Neapolitan. Finally, the pasta arrived: fresh linguine with crab and the most
phenomenal risotto with Italian sausage. As a pasta enthusiast, this was the
moment I had been waiting for. The linguine was everything I needed and I’m
still craving it over a week later. We finished up the night with a tiramisu, a
much needed digestif and the most delicious Aperol spritz that I’ve ever had the
pleasure of drinking.
All
in all, a fantastic night was had and I can’t wait to go back there and explore
the rest of the menu in the future! It’s a restaurant that’s more than suitable
for all types of people, professionals and students alike, and I feel very
lucky to have been invited along for the ride!
Buon
Appetito!
