A restaurant well worth its Pink Salt

By David Dale
March 7, 2005
Evan Hansimikali and his partner Bella Serventi at their Manly restaurant Pink Salt.

Photo: Ben Rushton

The only question that really matters in a restaurant review is this: would our town be the lesser if this place ceased to exist?

In the case of Pink Salt, which opened last week, the answer is yes and the question is urgent, because Pink Salt may be gone in six weeks' time. It's this year's Sydney contender in the TV game show My Restaurant Rules.

Last year the Sydney contender was the first to be voted off the program, because our town was too cool to call and register support for it, while Perth went into a phoning frenzy to demolish the easterners. Cucina Vera is now just the answer in a trivia quiz about shortest-lived restaurants.

That shouldn't be allowed to happen this year, because Pink Salt deserves to outlast the game.

The opening lunch was an ominous beginning, with only 16 customers in a room designed for 60, but Manly is not exactly convenient to the city's business lunching heart and dinner is more likely to be Pink Salt's boom time.

The small crowd gave the pretty waitfolk in their pink T-shirts and blue jeans time to learn on the job.

They were dutiful in keeping the big water glasses filled, but not so good at explaining the creations of the chef, Jean-Francois Salet (a veteran of the Bayswater Brasserie in its better days).

Serving the tasting plate of mixed entrees, our waitress pointed to one item and said "that's the liver".

The menu described it more appetisingly as "duck and pistachio terrine with grilled sourdough". In fact, that was the only dud in the whole meal. It was a bit greasy and a bit rubbery, but it made the other elements of the platter, such as fried zucchini flowers with tomato and fennel, and vodka-cured ocean trout, seem fresher and lighter.

The mains were marvellous: wide squid-ink pappardelle noodles (misspelled "parpadelle" on the menu) with loads of fresh crab and peas, and an asparagus and green bean "risotto" made with an ancient grain called spelt (or farro) instead of rice. It was flavoured with specks of black truffle from Italy, rather than the nasty truffled olive oil that pollutes half of Sydney's menus.

The spelt was chewy enough and unusual enough to become Sydney's next big food fad, unless it's surpassed by the invigorating lemon verbena ice-cream served with the dessert of fresh berries and crisp pastry.

Many customers will go to Pink Salt for a brush with fame, and the contestants, Bella Serventi and Evan Hansimikali, make plenty of appearances at the tables, but the focus should be on the food.

At a time when good eateries in Sydney are more likely to close than open, we'll only have ourselves to blame if Pink Salt goes the way of Cucina Vera.

How it rates

Pink Salt, 43 East Esplanade, Manly. BYO. No bookings.

TV audience: 1.27 million in the mainland capitals

Food: 8/10. A bit French, a bit Italian, with some exciting novelties.

Service: 7/10. Good-natured, but still learning.

Atmosphere: 8/10. A cool modern interior in pink and grey, with ferry views.

And check out the toilets!

Value: 7/10. Generous servings of starters $18, mains $33, and desserts $14.
