Trattoria La Fontana, Leichhardt

Last week I learned that children are not for me just yet. Stephen and I sent my parents to Melbourne to see King Tut at Melbourne Museum (because we're awesome like that), and as part of the holiday we took care of my baby sister Kate. Let me tell you, by the time my parents came back, I was really glad that I could return her (not that I don't love the little tyke to bits, but she's quite a handful!). On the Saturday I had promised her a train ride, so we met Stephen at work in Auburn, and then drove a little way to Leichhardt for dinner.

What can I say? She loves trains :s

Walking down Norton St, we realise that although we've been here a few times, we've never eaten Italian here, which is totally ridiculous. We immediately decide to rectify this, and head to Trattoria La Fontana.

We're shown to a small table for three, and we settle down with our menus. There weren't many people at the time, and so the wait-staff were very attentive and took the time to answer all of our questions about the dishes. We eventually ordered our meals and a couple of drinks, with the waitress suggesting some apple juice for Kate. While waiting for our orders, we listened to the soothing sound of the running water in the fountain out the front of the restaurant, and watched the people in the kitchen pull out wood-fired pizzas from the huge oven.

San Pellegrino Chinotto - $5.00

Stephen is a long time fan of Chinotto. This specimen was slightly bitter, and lifted by the citrus element. It wasn't terribly carbonated, which was a good thing, and the refreshing drink was served ice-cold.

Fiori Di Zucca - $18.00

The deep fried zucchini flowers in this dish were the main attraction for this entree - they were covered in a crisp, light batter and stuffed with a creamy ricotta and salty feta mixture that simply oozed out. The flavours were complimented by a smear of sweet potato puree, and a garnish of red cabbage.

Pizza Bread - $12.00

This bread, made with pizza dough, was very thin and crispy, and seasoned with a rosemary topping that was pleasantly salty and aromatic. It was accompanied by some plump kalamata olives, and the salty rosemary and earthy olive flavours were a perfect match

Margherita Woodfired Pizza - $16.00

The margherita pizza was composed of the same thin, crispy base as the pizza bread, with a topping of basil and tomato sauce and some mozzarella cheese. It's a classic flavour combination, but their take on it was really well executed and we kept going for 'just one more slice'.

Beef Ragu with Parpadelle - $26.00

The pasta in this dish was thick and heavy, but it went well with the chunky beef and tomato sauce. It was cooked perfectly al dente, and the ragu clung to the pasta wonderfully. An addition of fresh herbs freshened the dish considerably, giving more depth to the flavour.

Insalata Rucola E Pera - $12.00

Feeling the need for greens, we ordered a salad last minute. What came out was a salad composed of slightly bitter rocket leaves, some sharp, shaved parmesan, slivers of sweet pear and some crunchy walnuts, all dressed in lemon juice and olive oil. My sister wasn't a fan, but I promised her ice cream if she ate some (her response to being told to eat vegetables is 'I don't eat trees!').

We were really happy with our Italian experience here at Trattoria La Fontana. It was a clean, quiet, peaceful restaurant with a relaxing atmosphere, and the food was simple and well-cooked, the best kind of Italian food.

We headed off down the street a little ways for the gelato that we had promised Katie, and found a lovely little place called Il Gelatiere. We let Kate order her own gelato (but stopped her when she tried to get four scoops), chocolate of course.

NOW she's interested...

Blood Orange Gelato - $4.00 (1 scoop)

Stephen had the blood orange gelato, and it was faithful to the original fruit - sweet, with a gutsy hit of orange and a slightly bitter aftertaste. His gelato was slightly elastic, but deliciously creamy.

Chocolate Gelato - $4.00 (1 scoop)

Kate's gelato, which she had a death grip on, was extremely chocolatey, like a dark chocolate, but not overly sweet (although it still had her bouncing around the car on the way home). It was more like ice-cream than Stephen's and much more soft and creamy.

Rosewater Gelato - $4.00 (1 scoop)

I was curious about the rosewater gelato, so I ordered a scoop, and while it really did taste strongly of rosewater, my flavour was the least interesting of the three, simply because while the blood orange and the chocolate had their own slight contrasting bitterness, mine was just sweet and one-dimensional. Still, it was good gelato, and I would definitely come back.

Trattoria La Fontana

Shop 7, 39-45 Norton St
Leichhardt, NSW
2040

Phone: 9550 9365
Fax: 9572 8844

Il Gelatiere

Norton Plaza
Shop 1, 55 Norton St
Leichhardt NSW
2040

Phone: 9560 2204