Brunello

I walked in. Said "Reservation for one". 
   "Tyler?" they (Giordano) replied. 
   I responded with "Yep". 
   "Are you the person with the blog?" asked Giordano (he already knew I was coming because I messaged them on Instagram the day before)
   "That's me!" I said. 
Giordano sat me down, and to my surprise, he asked if I wanted a tour of the kitchen. I was shocked and obviously said "Yes please". We walked over to the kitchen and I met the head chef (Leonardo). He said "Hello" and gave me a fist bump. Leonardo asked, "What is your favourite food?" and I replied, "Kingfish. But anything that is used well and prepared correctly can taste amazing". Leonardo smiled. Giordano led me deeper into the depths of the kitchen. I noticed the team were all working hard and all chipping in for tonight's dinner rush. One of the chefs was cutting pink marshmallows into small cubes. They gave me one and said "Any allergies?" to which I replied with "Nope!". So I ate the mysterious pink marshmallow. Up until that point, I thought I absolutely hated marshmallows, but I've been proven wrong. It was soft and light and pink and sweet and all the good things that you can think of. She asked me if I could guess the flavour. 
   "Strawberry?" I said. 
   "Well done" she replied. "But there is one more flavour"
   I thought for a second. "What about watermelon?" I questioned. Everyone was shocked. I perfectly guessed the exact flavours of this mysterious marshmallow. They said that even Giordano guessed incorrectly. Not only were they impressed by my ability to know the flavours in their marshmallow, but I was impressed by my ability as well. 

 

Giordano kept showing me the kitchen. He showed me the huge dough machine, the cool/freezer room, and most importantly, the perfectly sorted and labelled tubs that all the ingredients go in. He said that the most important part of a kitchen is an organised pantry. This would make it substantially easier to find ingredients for a dish, and it's more hygienic. We then walked to the area where all of the dishes were washed. He said that most dishwashing rooms are small, but theirs is quite large. This would make it a lot better for whoever is washing the dishes as they can organise things better, it's not as cramped, and it would feel like a better environment to be in. We then walked through a door and were back in the restaurant.

 

Now that I've sat down after the incredible tour of the kitchen and begun to give my investigation on the appearance of the restaurant. A customer came up to me and asked 
   "Are they forcing you to do homework?" To which I replied with
   "No, I own a food blog and I'm going to review Brunello".
   "Seriously?" she asked.
   "Yeah, here" I responded as I gave her one of my business cards.    
   "Thank you," she said and then walked back to her table. 
   "I certainly wasn't expecting that," I thought to myself. 

 

I began to look around, and I first noticed the Italian music that was playing which immediately gave the restaurant an incredible atmosphere. Shortly after, I noticed the thousands of wine bottles all around the restaurant. In 2022, Brunello won 3 wine listing awards which explains the vast array of different wines all across the left side wall (walking in). Along with these wine bottles, they also had hundreds of wine glasses of all different shapes and sizes. I then noticed the colour scheme of Brunello. It was stone, wood, and white. Stone floor and tables, with wooden and white chairs. This made Brunello feel very homely and modern.

 

Truffle here, truffle there, truffle everywhere. My experience at Brunello was perhaps a once in a lifetime. Why? They had an exclusive truffle menu that was only available every Wednesday in July, and it changed each time. So the meals that I got at Brunello may never exist again. This made my experience feel very special, not only because I got a tour of the kitchen, but because I had dishes that may never get served again. This particular "Truffle Set Menu" was perfect for me as it was my very first time trying fresh truffles. They had a strong smell, strong taste and looked incredible. All of the truffles from this menu were supplied by the local "Blue Frog Farm" and were all astounding. Out of the 4 main different types of truffle, the "black truffle" is what I tried at Brunello. Now that I've tried one type, I want to try the 3 other main types and the 140 different species of truffles. I may have an addiction now.

 

Truffles are difficult to find, but I think that just makes them even more special. They have an irresistible taste and can be used in most dishes. However, they are only available for a couple months per year (from the winter solstice to around 2 months after). In case you have never experienced the pure joy that truffles give you, next truffle season you must buy a truffle or at least go to a restaurant that serves it. I'm not going to spoil the taste of truffle, just remember that it is mind-blowing.

 

The menu at Brunello is incredible. Although I can't pronounce most of the dishes, they sound delightful. Most, if not all of the dishes at Brunello are designed to share. They have multiple charcuteries and cheeseboards that will pair perfectly with all of the wine. The menu also includes 4 unique degustations. Which includes "Degustation", "Signature Degustation", "Vegetarian Degustation" and "Veg Signature Degustation". All of the degustations also have a wine pairing that you can order that will perfectly pair with the dishes on the menu. Any of the degustations, along with the wine pairing and the environment of Brunello would be perfect for an afternoon meal, celebration or a talk with friends and family. 

 

At 7:30 pm, Brunello was packed. Every single table was full and there were lots of people of all different ages dining, drinking wine and chatting. There were elderly couples sampling wine, a business meeting on a large round table that sat 10+ people, and everyone in between. If it was that packed on a Wednesday night, I can't begin to imagine how busy it would be on a Friday or Saturday night. When it was busy, I looked over to the kitchen and saw Leonardo putting his heart and soul into all of the incredible dishes that he was making. At one point there were roughly a dozen different meals on the counter that needed to be sent out to different tables. It was incredible to see how hard he works to make sure his customers are happy and enjoy their meals. Not only this, but Giordano and all of the other staff members were working hard and all of them were smiling and happy. When I open my restaurant, I want it to have just as good an environment as Brunello does.

 

One small thing that Brunello does, is add their logo to ice cubes. Whenever someone orders a mocktail or cocktail that has a large chunk of ice, they use a tool to embed their logo in the ice. The logo is a large "B". It may look subtle but it can make a huge difference if you notice it.
 

Before I left, I walked over to Leonardo and asked him for a quote.
   "What do you mean?" he asked.
   "Something you live by, something you like to say, something that you might have an opinion of" I explained to him.
   "Go nuts," he said, "I say it all the time" he explained. 
In my opinion, 2 simple words like this can have so much meaning behind them. Go nuts in life. If you want to open a restaurant (like myself) just go nuts and work until you open it. Maybe someone might ask Leonardo how much truffle goes into the "Pizza Fritta", he might say "Go nuts" (this dish had heaps of truffle). 

 

Before I wrap things up on this review, I would just like to say that all the conversations have been shortened in this review and aren't word for word. If all of it was word for word this review would be three times as long. 

 

Brunello is perfect. That's all I have to say. From the strong Italian vibes to the menu, nothing could be faulted. Their diverse menu is perfect, their wine selection is literally award-winning, and the feeling when you walk in is something like nothing else. If your looking for an incredible experience with food and wine that you can't begin to pronounce, go to Brunello.

 

Thank you for reading.