Canaletto Italian Restaurant & Public House in Kingswood

‘What do you need me for?’ I howled into the night outside Canaletto’s. ‘Why bother writing restaurant reviews at all? Why try to keep up with trends and menus and seasonality, locality, organics, food-friendly, eco-friendly, breast-feeding-friendly fads and phases, and report back. Why?’

Admittedly, I may have had one glass too many, but this wasn’t a bad episode of EastEnders, this was a reality check. Led to water by me on a regular basis, you clearly read my recommendations, murmur ‘ahh, how interesting’, then fold up your newspapers and say, “fancy a nice steak and a good tiramisu . . . brilliant, let’s go to Canaletto’s.”

That’s where you all were on Saturday night anyway, unashamedly ploughing your way through Filetto Canaletto while the dessert trolley circulated. And it was so refreshing, like giving a kid the newest XBox only to find him round the back of the house play-ing cowboys and Indians. I almost felt like an intruder when entering the lofty, barn-conversion, clap-board style restaurant — so this is where you’ve all been hiding!

But the most astonishing thing about the entire experience is that Caneletto Kingswood is new, not a nostalgic destination where people have been coming since the 60s complete with bad murals and Mat-eus Rosé candles.

• Canaletto co-owner and head chef Gerry Pantanella, left, with fellow co-owner and restaurant manager Javier Varela

It has only been open a few months, when the head chef and co-owner Gerry Pantanella, who used to run Rigaletto’s in Middleton Stoney, hauled himself out of retirement to man the kitchens just to satiate people’s appetites for old-fashioned Italian food. Which meant I was looking forward to a really good plate of pasta and a glass of vino rosso and the place, just past Bicester, was heaving — always a good sign.

Gerry doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about, of course. He’s been cooking good Italian food for decades and people have always liked it. What he needed was a contemporary space in which to execute his food, somewhere so new and tasteful that the old school menu appears almost retro.

• Part of the restaurant

So, rather than feeling obliged to try some pretentious chef’s signature dish of dried snail droppings with carpaccio of seagull eyeballs or the like, you can let go of all your preconceptions and expectations and eat what you like.

Our starters consisted of calamari (£6.95), Caprese salad (tricolore of avocado, mozzarella and tomato in the hues of the Italian flag) (£6.95), and chicken liver pâté with herb brandy cream and toasted bread (£6.95), and all were just so, cooked brilliantly but as expected, except that the Caprese’s tomatoes were hard, meaning that Gerry came out of the kitchens in horror to apologise, blaming his veg suppliers.

• Parma ham with melon

Next up was Vitello — veal with parma ham in a sage and white wine sauce (£14.95), Scampi Maria in tomato, garlic and white wine served with rice (£14.95), Crespolini pancakes filled with spinach and ricotta, in a tomato and white sauce £12.95), and beef fillet mignon with wild mushrooms in a brandy sauce (£19.95), all accompanied by seasonal veg in mini serving dishes. We relished every rich, creamy mouthful because, boy, does Gerry knows how to make sauces.

• Agnello (rack of lamb)

But this wasn’t my breaking point — no that came later when, after several good bottles of Italian wine we asked for dessert, the expectation levels soaring as the required, clear-domed dessert trolley was wheeled over to our table, replete with every creamy Italian pudding you can imagine, all for £5.95, and they didn’t disappoint.

I can share the plump deftness of the Italian’s answer to Eton Mess with you, a strawberry and cream fool type creation which was so fabulous that the recipient waited until service was over so he could get the recipe from the chef, yes that good. The tiramisu was also a masterclass in how to do it properly. But doing justice to the profiteroles is nigh on impossible, except to say they were perfection itself, the light chewiness of the choux pastry and the sugary depth of the cream filling complementing the balanced bitterness of the chocolate sauce, bringing me to the said soliloquy outside.

• The sign outside

So maybe I’ll stop telling you where to eat, and follow you out instead. Because through Canalleto’s you have taught me a lesson, that in these days of signature dishes, invention and alchemy, we should never write off good old-fashioned tucker delivered with impeccable Italian service. Just imagine the Emperor going home and putting on his nice comfy robes and you’ll get the picture.

Canaletto Italian Restaurant & Public House
Bicester Road, Kingswood HP18 ORB
01296 770251
canalettorestaurant.com

Opening times: Monday closed. Tuesday-Saturday 12-3, 6.30pm-9.30pm; Sunday 12-3pm
Parking: Lots
Key personnel: Gerry Pantanella — co-owner and head chef; Javier Varela
— co-owner and restaurant manager
In ten words: Unashamedly old school Italian food in a Daylesford-style setting