Signorelli Gastronomia, Pyrmont

As part of my latest (bi)monthly bookclub meeting, a group of friends and I organised dinner at Signorelli Gastronomia - an Italian restaurant in Pyrmont that was part-taking in the Good Food Month with a Vertical Garden dessert!

Restaurant from the outside

The restaurant is less than 10min walk from Pyrmont bridge and is actually around the side of the Accenture building. My walking buddy (from Wynyard) and I almost walked past the restaurant as the exterior isn't very prominent and is sort of hidden behind trees and cars parked on the street.

Upon walking through the entrance and down a set of stairs, you walk by the open kitchen on the left (with windows along the wall for customers to peer inside and get a glimpse into the workings of their kitchen) and racks filled with purchasable goods (such as pasta, risotto rice, pasta sauce, biscotti) on your right before you come across the reception area.

Since we booked a table in advance, we were quickly led to our table and offered table drinks whilst we wait for our late-coming friends:

Watermelon gazpacho - offered to customers on arrival (free)

Picture of the back of their menu, which acts as the place mat for each customer
It looks like they change their menus on a monthly basis as the menu
presented on the table listed out unique specials/events for Oct and Nov. 

When all my friends finally arrived (by which time, I was starrrrvvinnnggggg...), we were ready to order our food. The pizzas came out soon afterwards (15-20min after ordering), along with the two pastas that we ordered:

Pizza with Italian sausage, gorgonzola and potatoes ($24)

Pizza with three mushrooms, taleggio and parmesan ($25)

Calzone with ham, mushroom and ricotta ($23)

Pasta of the Day - squid ink fettuccine with large prawns, cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs (M=$30)

Orecchiette with pan-roasted pork and fennel sausage, mushrooms, white wine sauce,
fresh herbs, finished with soppressa wafer (E=$18; M=$27)

The pizzas were good (or it could have been the hunger) but could have been improved with a bit more seasoning (none available on the table). The squid ink fettuccine was more of a novelty and interesting to eat although the pasta, having been be cooked 'al dente', was a bit too firm for my taste - I prefer not to chew so hard in order to eat pasta. The orecchiette wasn't cooked al dente so was easier to eat.

Finally, it came to the highlight of the evening - the Vertical Garden Dessert! Every table in the restaurant ordered this after 8pm (it was literally flying out the kitchen in a constant procession!).

Good Food Month - The Vertical Garden Dessert Offer
The bespoke creation by our Celebrity pastry chef Vincent Gadan - frozen nougat, rose blossom loukoum, 
lychee jelly and pistachio wall with a glass of Yalumba wine ($20pp)

Close-up of dessert.... nomnomnom...

This was by far the best dish of the night - beautifully presented and the flavours were amazing! The only element of this dish that I wasn't sure about was the lychee jelly. which was seriously wobbly and mushy (could have done with a bit more gelatin?) ...

I absolutely loved the frozen nougat - however, by the end, it was a total sugar overload due to the addition of the rose blossom loukoum (a.k.a. Turkish delight) in the frozen nougat. It could be improved with something slightly savoury to offset the excessive sweetness (even with the pistachio wall, raspberry coulee and choc biscuit crumbs/dirt).

Overall, the meal cost $42pp - a bit steep for the likes of me (given the fact that it WAS pizza and pasta, followed by a sugar-filled killer dessert). I would definitely recommend people go for any desserts that they might have on offer in the future for Good Food Month/Sugar Hit.