Bar Hop - La Madonna Nera, Mt Hawthorn

BAR

HOP By Sloane Carvell (@crumbs_and_corks)

La Madonna Nera Mt Hawthorn

42 I n the hub of Mt Hawthorn across the road from The Mezz on Scarborough Beach Road is a little bar with a lot of attitude. La Madonna Nera, as its name suggests, is an Italianinfluenced wine bar that will make you feel like you went to Italy without the expensive airfare or long queue at passport control. With old world Italian wine varietals, amaro by the glass, house-made negronis and small plates packing a forte Italian punch, you don’t need to go very far for a slice of la dolce vita.

A friend and I arrange to meet on a Saturday evening for a long overdue catch-up over aperitifs. It’s a busy night as I arrive so I am glad we booked. Spoilt for wine choices, I was early for my girl date and was recommended by staff to start with a glass of Monte Schiavo Verdicchio. Verdicchio has been cultivated for hundreds of years in the Marche region of central Italy and this was my first tasting of this Italian variety. It is dry and crisp with lovely minerality and a sea-air freshness and perfect for the hot balmy evening; the ideal choice, as it turns out.

Sometimes as a female it can feel awkward waiting in bars but the staff at La Madonna Nera were friendly and checked on me as I waited and made me feel comfortable. My friend

arrives and we order some food and wine together. She chooses a gorgeous bottle of white wine, Graci 2017 Etna Bianco. The wine is a blend of organically-grown Carricante and Cataratto, varieties that are both new to me, grown on the north face of volcanic Mt Etna in Sicily. It has lots of orange blossom on the nose and lemon notes with crisp acidity and minerality due to those volcanic soils, and with a fuller body its delicious. The staff are very knowledgeable and happy to recommend you a wine to suit your taste, and the variety extends from Italian to Australian wines with organic and natural wines available.

We order some heirloom tomatoes with stracciatella and semi-dried olive which arrive full of colour and flavour. Some salumi (Italian cold cuts of meat) with house pickles included lovely bresaola and the pickles certainly pack a punch. Don’t go past the arancini if you visit. A surprising parmesan custard was inside, served on a piselli cream (pea to you and me) with a tomato oil. The saltiness and full flavour of the parmesan custard pops against the rice of the arancini and these were filled with creamy, cheesy goodness - a real highlight.

There are more substantial plates of pasta if you feel hungrier and the menu included a potato gnocchi in sugo, pappardelle with roast duck and porcini ragu, a squid ink tagliolini with blue swimmer crab, and a marinated lamb in gin and juniper berries. We ended the night with a cheese board served with Postcode Honey and lovely bread and wafer. The aged Parmesan on the board reminds me of an episode of the Netflix series with Samin Nosrat ‘Salt, Fat Acid, Eat’ where Samin talks about the ‘candy of Parmesan’ after trying a 40-month-aged parmesan in Italy, and I am right there with her in that moment, as the tyrosine crystals pop in your mouth.

IF YOU WANT to live la dolce vita and not burst the purse strings getting there, make La Madonna Nera your next date night out. Don’t miss: The arancini Price: Small plates from $12 Hours: Weds – Thurs 4pm –late, Fri 12pm – late, Sat 4pm – late. Aperitivo 4 – 6pm Wed – Sat. Verdict: