Dinner @ Tipo 00

Named for the flour with which one makes pasta, Tipo 00 is very much the pasta place of the hour. The first time I'd been was only a few weeks ago and I liked it so much I chose to come back here for a catchup with a friend and former colleague.

I ordered the Tagiolini al nero (squid ink tagliolini, squid and bottarga) and my friend had the Caserecci (a ragu Bolognese on a special curled pasta). For dessert I had the Casata (a frozen nougat parfait with pistachio icecream and cumin topping) and my friend had the signature ‘Tipomisu’ (Chocolate sponge, filled with mascarpone cream, topped with a disc of chocolate and finished with a rich espresso sauce).

I was very pleased with the Tagiolini, the pasta was fresh and richly flavoured and had contrasting strands of white pasta to offset the darkness and heavier flavour of the squid ink pasta. The squid tossed through the dish was supremely fresh and had ana amazing texture, it had been cooked perfectly and was a great accompaniment. The butter sauce was beautiful and rich, indeed it was almost a broth which added a very interesting aspect to the dish. One thing I would have liked was much more bottarga on the dish.

My friend was happy with her Caserecci. She described the ragu as having a very rich and pleasing flavour, and the aroma I detected was certainly lovely. She also said the pasta was perfectly cooked and that the shaved parmesan on top had a unique flavour.

She was also impressed with her dessert. I have heard good things about the Tipomisu and she thought that the strong reviews of the dish were borne out in the taste. She described the balance between the sponge, the sweet mascarpone crème, the dark chocolate and the ‘tangy’ coffee sauce as being excellent. In hindsight I am very disappointed I didn’t get to try it.

My dessert was however a bit of a let down. The frozen nougat parfait – almost a semifreddo – was delicious. It was delicately flavoured and I saved most of it till the end in order to enjoy it following the other unsatisfying elements. The pistachio icecream was a real disappointment – it was just so meh. The flavour wasn’t there, and although the texture was nice, I wish it had tasted more like the actual pistachios that were crumbled over the plate. The biscotti shards followed 111 Spring Street’s pastry chef’s approach in adding a powdery, flavourless, cardboard-y aspect to the dessert. I get what the intention was, but it just wasn’t well executed. Finally, and most jarringly, the cumin flavour! It just didn’t go. A savoury streak is perfect to cut through a sweet dessert, but here, with such a delicately (and almost savory) flavoured dessert to begin with, it just made it into a cold course. If this had arrived as a palette cleanser at Attica, I would have been much happier, however as a desert, it failed.

That said, Tipo 00 is *the* place in Melbourne to go for a great bowl of gourmet pasta, and I would highly recommend it on that ground alone.

There is one other reason to make Tipo 00 a ‘must visit’ and it is quite unrelated to the food: they stock a most interesting beer, KeTo Reporter. I have had this in the past (although I didn’t order a bottle at dinner) but I would almost recommend a trip to Tipo 00 purely to sample it. It is a dark beer that is aged with tobacco to give it a truly unique flavour as well as a little bit of a nicotine kick! Take my advice and give it a shot with your pasta.

-M