Sometimes as a reviewer you stumble on a restaurant you’d prefer to keep to yourself. A haven where one can grab a stool at the bar and devour something special to happily sate the hungry beast. Your little secret. But you soon realise these are the places that you want to prosper, not plunder. Plus, food is about sharing, not solitude.

Enter Pino’s Vino e Cucina.

Hidden in the no-man’s-land back streets of Alexandria, between factory warehouses, terraces and the angry arteries feeding peak hour traffic, you’d never know it was there.

Owned by Scottish-born drink slinger Diane McDonald and Italian panhandler Matteo Margiotta, it feels more like an Austrian tavern than an Italian trattoria. Think white ceilings with brown beams, wooden floorboards – and, well, wood everywhere.

The cocktails would be a contender with any high-end saloon, perhaps influenced by McDonald’s time at Earl’s Juke Joint in Newtown. Her wine list, too, is succinct, accessible and slightly adventurous, mimicking the attitude of the modern-meets-traditional, Italian-accented food from chef Margiotta.

Prosciutto veils quarters of grilled peach and torn buffalo mozzarella in a standout starter. Or creamy burrata teams with ribbons of asparagus and pea greens for an indulgent beginning.

Pickled onion and ricotta top a crisp chickpea pancake (farinata) with a satisfyingly chewy centre. Then cannellini and octopus combine with salsa verde, yet an accompanying nduja spread (spicy salami) barely registers.

There’s beauty in a lamb rump with beetroot and swordfish with fennel and radish. The best dish, though, is the frilly spelt trenette lathered in lardo, zucchini and mint. It’s that special dish I’d swoon over if Pino’s was my secret space. Damn it, the secret’s out.