The Polenta Platter

I remember, some years ago, Chef Stefano Manfredi telling me a story. It was about polenta. And how his mother Franca didn't want to serve polenta when they opened the first Restaurant Manfredi, because it was the food of poor people. It's true that polenta is every day eating in northern Italy. That makes it family food, comfort food, the food to share with friends. So while sharing in the middle of the table is a current restaurant trend, there isn't any more appropriate sharing dish I reckon, than a big platter of Polenta alla Romano.

This story goes, one day back in the time of Caffe 2000 Rozelle a group of family and friends gathered around a restaurant table for a polenta night. That big wooden board topped with polenta wasn't on the menu then, but other customers saw it and wanted the same. News travelled. And so the Caffe 2000 polenta board became a signature.

Now that Caffe 2000 owner Tonino Lo Iacono is back - now as owner at Da Vinci's Italian restaurant Summer Hill - so is the polenta dish. We tried it there at Da Vinci's tonight. A group of friends gathered around the table. We ate the melt-in-your-mouth soft and creamy polenta that had been stirred for over an hour. You know the trick don't you? Once you start stirring polenta, you have to keep on stirring in the same direction. The other trick is, to try this Da Vinci's specialty, you'll need to give them at least a few days notice. Our group was six, but we discussed it over dinner and agreed that this huge wooden polenta (plus - pork and sausage and broccoli) platter would be the perfect party food for a big long table of 20 (or in fact any number greater than four). Gather your friends and family.