The hospitality world was shattered by lockdowns and other restrictions as Covid swept in, but the people at Al Fresco dealt with it in their own way.
Some food businesses had the life squeezed out of them and perished, while others tried to ride it out by diversifying into slimmed-down takeaways.
At Al Fresco in Aberdeen, formerly known as Aperitivo before the pandemic, they dreamed up a different approach.
While the doors were locked they reinvented themselves with new branding and a refurbishment in readiness for freedom day.
But they resisted turning the culinary style on its head, which had proved itself over and over again with the old Aperitivo aficionados.
It’s still as Italian as tiramisu, I’m happy to report. But the makeover and reinvention as Al Fresco has given it a real bounce coming out of the pandemic.
On a Friday lunchtime, as we popped in, they were enjoying a roaring trade with both old friends and new acquaintances.
Al Fresco in Aberdeen
The new low ceiling with green foliage, installed to create an alfresco-style atmosphere, seemed to enhance the convivial mood of the dining room.
People were relishing the freedom to dine out again and made the most of it.
We were slightly disappointed not to get a window seat, but realised we should have requested this in advance given how busy they were.
The friendly and attentive staff sensed this because they quickly deflected us into a cosy corner table for two, which made us very happy.
The food
We had two options for lunch: full a la carte, or a special lunch menu of two or three courses for £11.95 and £14.95 respectively.
Now I could probably see why they were so busy as this deal seemed excellent value for money.
We opted to mix and match from both menus to experience the full range at Al Fresco.
But I could see another menu had caught my wife’s eye – the one with drinks on it. A bellini – Prosecco with peach juice – was calling out to her.
It brought back happy memories of a trip to Venice almost five years ago: other travellers were rushing to book the usual stuff like gondolier trips around its famous waterways.
But we beat a path around St Mark’s Square to the iconic Harry’s Bar, birthplace of the bellini.
We supped a few of these from small glasses in the upstairs dining room at Harry’s – taking in the stupendous view – as waiters in fancy jackets and gloves fussed around.
The bellinis were £11 a throw in Venice at the time, mind you. They were priced more modestly at £7.95 in Al Fresco; I read somewhere that bellinis are now £18 in Harry’s.
It’s at times like these that I am always in awe that a single country like Italy is blessed with such a range and depth of cuisine.
It didn’t make choosing very easy at Al Fresco. Anyway, we finally got there and started with carpaccio de salmone and arancini con formaggio.
I always smile at the arancini because you don’t need any instructions on what to do next.
On one side is a bowl of breaded deep-fried risotto balls bursting with Italian mixed cheeses; on the other is a glorious deep-red bowl of lightly-spiced tomato sauce. It’s obvious – you just dunk one in the other.
My salmon carpaccio looked like it was auditioning for a still-life painting.
It was beautiful to look at and a delicious treat. Baby prawns in Marie-rose sauce were the centrepiece, on a bed of thin-sliced smoked salmon.
For main course, my wife went for a classic Italian spiedino – grilled skewers of marinated chicken, pancetta and Italian sausage with onions, peppers and rosemary potato wedges.
Mine was a bit of a stop-start affair as I chose sea bass to begin with, but spotted a waiter carrying a blackboard among the tables showing off the day’s specials.
I had missed the board earlier and just chose off the main menu.
Four letters were chalked up on the board which always make my heart flutter – they spelled hake.
It was enough to persuade me to change my order on the spot because I just love hake, but I don’t see it on menus as often as I would like.
I was told that switching wasn’t a problem as the chefs had not started preparing our mains at that stage.
But there was a slip-up somewhere along the line as it took the best part of an hour to arrive.
They were full of apologies, but any tension over the delay evaporated as hake landed on our table.
What a dish – to say it was a generous portion would be an understatement.
It was heaving with wonderful roasted vegetables and rosemary potatoes, but the hidden treasure was the hake buried beneath.
I had two plump fillets; their distinctive fleshiness, and that unmistakable intense whiteness always marks hake out as something special.
Both mains were wonderful, but we summoned up the strength for desserts.
The delay meant I had to dash out to top up a parking machine, but I was able to work off some calories.
We rounded off with ice cream and cherries, and a home-made tiramisu
for me oozing with coffee and marsala wine.
I was relieved to see tiramisu was on both menus because we’ll be popping
back in a few weeks for a quick lunch special.
David Knight is the former deputy editor of The Press and Journal and he has been reviewing restaurant’s for The Menu for many years.
Information
Address: Al Fresco, 15 Bon Accord Street, Aberdeen AB11 6EA
T: 07500 705431
W: www.alfresco-aberdeen.com
Price: £93.40 (two starters, two mains, two desserts, four coffees and a mocktail)
Scores:
- Food: 4/5
- Service: 4/5
- Surroundings: 4/5
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