4. Mezze Maniche pasta with Balmain bug: Molto Italian
When Carlo Tosolini closed his namesake restaurant in downtown Canberra, it was like an institution had died. But, not one to disappoint, he soon resurfaced with the opening of Molto Italian; a bright, airy restaurant on the Kingston Foreshore.
“In my native language,” Tosolini said, “Molto means good and generous, which was my goal – both in the food and spirit of the restaurant.”
The menu is a virtual tour of Italy, reflecting Carlo’s many trips back to his home country. Carlo Tosolini is big on presentation and customer engagement, and their signature dish is an example of this – pasta straight from the saucepan poured into a Pecorino wheel, then passed to the server who scoops it out tableside.
But it’s their Balmain bug (or Moreton Bay bug) special that is nothing less than spectacular, inspired by the many crustacean dishes Carlo enjoyed in Sicily. Its shell contains plump orange flesh, and sits in a bed of hand shaped Mezza Maniche pasta. It’s all doused in a tomato seafood bisque.
A type of slipper lobster, related to Rock lobsters, Balmain and Moreton Bay bugs have a reddish-brown shell, broad flat head, and rich sweet flesh. They are caught wild from the southern part of Queensland down to Tasmania and West Australia, and are a prized menu item in Australia.
