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| REVIEWS |
Sydney Morning Herold, Eating Out
by Sally Hammond
This
recently renovated, family-run place has refined its winning formula
over 20 years. Owner George Colosi buys seafood from the trawlers,
which finds its way into dishes such as char-grilled baby octopus
($25), misto di mare (fish and crustaceans with tomato, basil and
garlic-$29), black mussels ($21), scampi grilled with lemon juice,
basil and extra virgin olive oil ($40) or market-price fish of the
day. There are also oysters - Sydney rocks for $22 a dozen - plus
whitebait fritters ($14), and calamari floured and fried ($18). As
its name suggests, it's a pearl of a place with a casual ambience,
but focused where it matters on the food and wine. |
| Sydney Weekly Courier, indulge
La Perla - a culinary gem
There is beauty in simplicity and when
it comes to the preparation of seafood, La Perla follows this principle
to succulent perfection. This is an Italian seafood restaurant of
the highest order, writes Joy Dodds.
For
almost a quarter of a century, La Perla in Gladesville has replicated
the pure essence of seafood cooked "alla cucina Italiana".
This outstanding Italian restaurant is head and shoulders above
all others in terms of authenticity and ambience.
While the rest of us snuggle between the sheets during the wee small
hours of the morning, La Perla's owner Giorgio Colosi is up surveying
the morning's fresh catch.
La Perla serves only seafood and only in the Italian style, emphasising
its freshness, using the freshest of quality ingredients such as
ripe tomatoes, rocket, parmesan cheese and olive oil, all imported
from Italy.
Forget rich sauces based on cream and butter laden with ingredients
that detract from the pure taste of fresh seafood. At La perla the
accent is on simplicity and freshness.
The animated tables of Italians dining there mid-week bear testimony
to its authenticity and popularity among that community, with Giorgio
flitting between tables rather like a favourite uncle, ensuring
that the home-made flavours and service are 100 percent.
I recommend leaving the menu choice up to Giorgio and staff. We
did, and the decision produced a magnificent array of seafood delicacies
antipasto di maro prepared to perfection and as fresh as can be.
Exquisite oysters and prawns were followed by lightly crumbed prawns
and a brilliant dish of whitebait fritters, called frittelle di
Nannata.
The carpacci - choose either tuna, swordfish or octopus is simply
served fresh drizzled with extra virgin oil and lemon juice, and
served with chilly and rocket.
After primi choose from an array of pasta, then move onto a mouth-watering
dessert, all prepared in the authentic Italian mode.
La Perla's wine list includes a fine selection of Italian whites
and reds, which the Colosi family imports. (They also own Grappa
and Ecco restaurants in Sydney's inner west).
I consider La Perla to be among the best Italian restaurants at
which I have eaten its décor authentic and the warm fulsome
personality of Giorgio Colosi exuding a joy of life throughout. |
|  Cheapeats 2002
La Perla
Italian $$$
Lunch and dinner Tuesday to Friday, dinner Saturday and Sunday
Licensed and BYO, corkage $3 per person
Amex, BC, D MC,V
U Wheelchair access to restaurant and toilet
Function room: to 55
Bookings essential on weekends and public holidays
255 Victoria Road, Gladesville, Ph 9816 1161
True to its name, La Perla‚s décor resembles the lustrous
interior of an oyster shell ˆ pearly grey, green and aqua, with
lots of glass ˆ and its extensive menu offers up to nine varieties
of fish a day. It‚s traditional Italian seafood all the way, from
whitebait fritters $14 and antipasto di mare $17 through to zuppa
di pesce $29, along with the usual pasta, risotto and salad options.
The large list of specials changes every day reflecting the best
of the market; be sure to ask about the plate-sized whole John Dory.
There‚s a wide choice of Italian desserts, including eight flavours
of house made gelato $8, crème brulee $9, the compulsory
tiramisu and specials. The wine list, drawn from Australia, Nz and
Italy will suit most budgets.
|
|  Table Talk
La Perla Ristorante
Where: 255 Victoria Rd, Gladesville
When: Open for lunch, Tuesday to Friday, noon-3pm. Dinner, Tuesday
to Sunday, 3pm-10pm and midnight during the Olympics. Fully licensed.
Bookings: 9816 1161 or www.laperla.com.au
This seafood restaurant is catching plenty of customers in its net.
The Internet, that is. La Perla boasts a comprehensive website detailing
menu, opening hours and even a handy map. It‚s worth studying before
venturing to busy Victoria Rd. Once inside this family-run establishment,
it is easy to relax. La Perla has been operating in Gladesville
for more than 20 years. The casual dining approach is reflected
in the modern, uncluttered décor. Simplicity, however, is
lost when it comes to cuisine. The regular menu is comprehensive,
but then we discovered the specials. I couldn‚t resist zucchini
flowers, fried and stuffed with prawn, pistachio and celery ($14).
My partner chose the risotto nero di seppie ($16), shockingly black
but very tasty. For mains, I tried the grigliata di mare ($29).
The octopus was a standout in this selection of grilled local seafood.
As with the specials is menu, offerings change several times a week,
depending on the local fish market. Back to the specials, my partner
chose the wild barramundi ˆ a juicy pan-fried fillet served with
artichoke, olives and lemon. Desserts proved more difficult to choose,
but I was happy with the decadent white chocolate crème brulee
while my partner‚s brazil nut, fig and cream cheese torte was as
delicious as it sounded.
Verdict: an ocean of seafood
Cost: $100 for two, excluding drinks.
|
 Fishy Fingers
George Colosi loves to buy seafood, cook seafood, eat
seafood and talk about seafood ˆ a lot.
By Belinda Thomson
It‚s 5:15am. The air is chilly and the concrete slick. An auction
floor is laden with crates of fish, the air heavy with their smell.
A clamour of male voices yells greetings, prices and expletives.
This is the daily auction at the Sydney Fish Market in Pyrmont and
somewhere in the crowd is a bright-eyed ˆ yes, even at 5:15 ˆ Italian
man named George Colosi.
Some may think this is not exactly a dream job, but talk to Colosi
and he will tell you otherwise ˆ at length.
Pacing enthusiastically between today‚s catches, Colosi is brimming
with knowledge on what‚s fresh and in season. Owner and operator of
La Perla restaurant in Gladesville for more than 20 years, he buys
and prepares all his own fish, selected from the fish market auctions.
Colosi developed a passion for seafood in his early 20s, when living
in South America among fishermen. He loves to buy fish, to cook it
and eat it. But most of all he loves to talk about it.
"Look at this fish," he says, ogling it. "Shiny, firm
skin and the eyes brightÝ and look" ˆ he opens the fish to check
the gills ˆ "bright red and smells like the sea." Colosi
isn‚t keen on frozen fish ˆ sometimes frozen for many months and often
imported. It‚s rubbish," he scoffs. Fish that is snap-frozen
on boats at very low temperatures is OK, he concedes, but a lot of
frozen fish available to the public is not "fresh frozen".
"Look," he says again, slapping a slick-looking octopus
in a crate, "Still alive." That‚s a good thing? "The
best," he replies.
Colosi is only interested in the best. Tuna is on his shopping list
for today, but the tuna available is not fresh. No tuna for George.
There is, however, a tiny quantity of sea urchin roe available is
not fresh. Colosi snaps up three or four tubs of this delicacy, purely
for family consumption. And like the proverbial boy in a lolly shop,
he can‚t resist sampling the prize and licking his lips with delight.
The 4:30am start is the toughest part of Colosi‚s job and things don‚t
always go his way. "I‚m probably the smallest buyer here and
the only restaurant; sometimes I don‚t get the fish I want,"
he says. If the weather has been bad, the catch is often small and
the prices soar, so larger buyers opt for frozen or imported products
that are cheaper. "Some buyers only care about the price, but
for me it‚s the quality. If the fish is very good it‚s OK to pay a
bit more."
Perhaps most fulfilling for Colosi is being able to follow the fish
from the crate to the table and seeing the look of satisfaction on
his customers‚ faces. "When they [the fish] are fresh they smell
like the sea and are a pleasure to eat."
The only way he could possibly get more fulfilment for his job would
be to get out there and catch the fish himself.
How he got there
Name: George Colosi
Age: 54
Job title: Fish purveyor, restaurateur
Qualifications: an incredible passion for all things of the sea and
the knowledge and experience to go with it.
Salary: Not definable.
Highs: "To eat it" [seafood] and "to see the faces
of customers enjoying it".
Lows: "The early mornings."
Life tip: "life is too short to do something you‚re not passionate
about." |
 Back to Basic
Amazing how many restaurants continue to do well without being
written up by flash food critics or frequented by supermodels and
millionaire DJs.
I once dropped in on a Way Groovy restaurant (it‚s closed now, lasted
about a month) to find it full of supermodels, etc ˆ and no one was
eating, just smoking and drinking. That‚s the problem with the Œin‚
crowd.
Mietta O‚Donnell, editor of Mietta‚s Eating & Drinking in Australia
(Black Inc., $24.95) spots differences between Sydney and Melbourne
people go back, she said, while Sydney people move on, looking for
The Next Big Thing. My prediction for 2001 is: that‚s changing. We‚re
starting to go back to old favourites and modest little joints around
the corner. Such as:
La Perla in Gladesville, where the Colosi family have been keeping
locals happy with super, Italian- accented seafood for more than 20
years.
La Perla, 255 Victoria Rd, Gladesville, 9816 1161, lunch and dinner
Tues-Fri, dinner Sat-Sun. |
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