Brendan is back with Gallo & Galetti

Gallo & Galetti

Brendan Cashman, Cork’s award winning chef, is back in business. His new venture is in Wilton and is an Italian restaurant called Gallo & Galetti. It is on the main road, opposite the Cork University Hospital, between the Shopping Centre and the Topaz.

The first thing that struck me on last week’s visit was the big team available to service the customers. And it seems a well drilled team as service was friendly and efficient.

I started off with the Finocchhio and Arancia Salad (Shaved fennel and orange salad with extra virgin olive oil and rocket). A lovely light starter. CL’s Antipasto was also delicious: Semi-dried tomatoes and roast marinated sweet red peppers. Hers cost €3.50 while mine came to €7.50.

Quite a few pizzas and pastas to choose from as you’d expect and these are also available on the lunch menu. My pick was the Penne all’arrabbiata & Pollo (Sautéed chicken with roast garlic, tomato, chilli basil and cream). Chicken was plentiful (the spice was moderate) and good value at €14.00.

Had seen somewhere that this was known as the “angry sauce”, so I went checking, at least as far as Wikipedia, and here I was informed: Arrabbiata sauce, or sugo all'arrabbiata in Italian, is a spicy sauce for pasta made from garlic, tomatoes, and red chilli peppers cooked in olive oil. "Arrabbiata" literally means "angry" in Italian, and the name of the sauce is due to the heat of the chilli peppers.

Meat and fish dishes feature more strongly in the evening menu and CL’s pick was the Pan Roast Chicken and Tuscan ratatouille (16.95). No translation problems here. Just a simple dish yet a superb one.

Not too many desserts listed but all were tempting, even the smaller ones such as the Affogato and the Coffee and chocolate truffles. But no small one for me! Just had to try the Tiramisu. Not too sure which of the many recipes was used here – Brendan himself was off duty on the night – but it was a sweet square of sinfulness with a good input of coffee.

Speaking of coffee, we did finish off with a couple of cups. Green Bean is the supplier here and the coffee was excellent. So too was the wine: an organic Chardonnay from Spanish producer Senorio de Ayud (€20.00 a bottle).  We knew it would be good as we had enjoyed it a few weeks back at the Douglas Tea Rooms.