Marmo

good quality, good value cooking

Enveloped in the restaurant quarter of Baldwin Street, a few metres from one of the river crossings, Marmo has been making waves with cooking that takes Italy as its base, but glides into effortless orbit from there. Shared tables and window perches are the drill, and the menu is a single-section document that begins with appetisers and progresses to mains without the joins showing. To start, we were wildly enthused by a single fried gnocco filled with cheese and topped with a melting diaphanous film of lardo – a salty, fatty treat. Good sourcing of local raw materials is the foundation stone, producing dishes that major on flavour impact rather than twee presentation. A heap of roasted artichoke, radicchio and clementine looked a bit of a jumble, but at the bottom was a slick of delightful hazelnut butter that unified the lot. Meat delivered superlative, properly hung venison haunch in a light stock with celeriac purée and pickled quince in a harmonious support act, while the must-have dessert is a rectangular brick of milky chocolate mousse topped with just-set, cocoa-powdered Chantilly. Wines by the glass prompt the diner to try out some interesting combinations. Jean-Philippe Fichet's Bourgogne Aligoté made short work of the theoretically tricky artichoke, while the half-fermented fizzing Garnacha at which we baulked initially had its buff tannic muscle flexed by the venison. The full bottle list is impressive, though prices may sit a little uneasily with the hearty informality of the place. On Friday and Saturday evenings, Marmo's new apero bar is open for nibbles and pre-/post-prandial libations.