British food writer Giles Coren once complained that eating Greek food in London is never going be that great. You arrive having battled with the tube on a grisly night, you sit in a hard space that needs a good summer breeze through it, and it’s hard to muster any strong feelings about the food because it couldn’t be less like eating in Greece. Chef Giovanni Pilu’s restaurant on the beach at Freshwater has the exact opposite effect.

Serve me a primi plate of asparagus with school prawn crumble, grapefruit and fried capers with a drink made from grapes and plonk me in a seat with a view to the white sands and tickling waves of the Pacific, and I’ll immediately fall into a romantic trance of this-is-what-its-like-in Sardinia, even though I’ve never been. Pilu conjures the kind of magic that only happens, usually, when we travel.

But back to Sardinia. Various crackling, juicy pieces of Melanda Park free-range suckling pig comes with an excellent suckling pig sausage, giving the impression that this is a nose-to-tail affair. Much of it is on the bone, and in a place like this (Sardinia, right?) you can pick the pieces up with your fingers and gnaw.

In colder months Pilu does a zuppa gallurese, and a boy once won me over on the merits of this dish on our first date. Sardinian toasted bread is soaked in lamb broth then layered with melted cheese and more bread like a big soupy, meaty, bread lasagne. Spoon into the layers, crispy and soft, look out over the ocean, dream of island hopping off Italy. That boy is now my husband, such is the power of a great dish in the right place.

Tel: (02) 9938 3331

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