A gorgeous evening at a gorgeous venue with a gorgeous crowd. And we even hit the local papers! Paolo designed a summer menu inspired by our recent visit to Rome especially for this event, and my it looked pretty on the plate.

We started this evening in the manner we should all be accustomed to, with a welcoming glass of Mayfield Vineyard Sparkling 2009 on the garden terrace with plates of cheese and honey (a Roman tradition). We showcased local artisanal cheeses from The Second Mouse Cheese Co., accompanied with locally-sourced Silver Leaf Iron Bark honey from The Beekeepers Inn. We’d driven to Sydney to get Italian Provolone cheese for the platter, but everyone snaffled up the local blue and brie! We also threw in some seasonal cherries from local orchardists Bite Riot, and according to our guests they were the best cherries they’d ever had.

Paolo encouraged our guests at the intimate dinner for 30 people to eat like the Romans do, with with a hearty antipasto sharing platter to start. This starred plenty of vegetarian dishes to complement authentic Italian specialities such as thickly cut prosciutto and rosemary-infused lardo, as well as some Kangaroo salami we discovered at a market in the Hawksbury (a little bit of Australia right there on the plate!).

This was followed by a dish so traditionally Roman that it dates back to the Roman empire – artisanal pasta with cheese and pepper – or Cacio e Pepe to give it its Roman name. Paolo recounted the history of this dish, which is known throughout the region surrounding Rome as being the simple meal of shepherds, who were coming down from spending summer in the Apennine mountains with their flocks. They would be carrying stale bread and cheese made from sheeps milk in their knapsacks, and stop by the way to boil up the bread, cover it with cheese and pepper, and wolf it down before moving on. This story comes from the days before pasta was introduced to Italy (by Marco Polo in the 13th Century).

For dessert, Paolo served up a thousand layer pastry with custard, cream and locally-made organic chocolate with scattered fresh raspberries. We ate this dish on our last day in Rome and almost turned around at the airport to go back for more.

Check out the full menu below, and to keep up to date with future #PochiPopUp events follow our Pochi ma Buoni facebook page. You can also sign up for our Pochi e:news for future event invites

Saturday 21 November 2015

Tickets included a three course meal, with welcome sparkling and cheese platter.

PHOTO CREDITS: Silver Compass Tours