La Grotta Calzone
Sunday, August 10th, 2008
Kicking off a very long 3 days of various birthday celebrations - and the highlight - was this calzone from La Grotta in Haberfield. Being another of Sydney’s “Little Italies”, Haberfield’s Ramsay Street is lined with delis, pizza shops, bakeries, and bread and pasta suppliers, so the competition is tough. I actually wanted to try La Disfida, (which was said by Luciana of Cucina Italiana to be her favourite over rival Napoli Im Bocca), but alas it was closed. So then Dolcissimo looked quite packed, but also didn’t seem to have more than pasta and pizza on offer, we walked to next door La Grotta, which seemed alot quieter but had a more diverse menu. GREAT choice, because not only was the service an outstanding differentiator from its Haberfield cousins, but this calzone was wood fired perfection. The waiters had no problem whatsover turning any of the other pizzas on the menu into the calzone, so I chose the Special, with ham, salami, mushrooms, olives (and hold the pineapple). This gigantic crescent arrived which was bigger than the plate - crust was risen to perfection, and cooked the way I like it - crunchy as it can be without burning. It was not oily at all, and well I could have stopped eating after 4 slices, but hey since I’m there…. let the pants loose. It was $19.90 which is around the same as all the other shops in the area - but go there also for the outstanding attentive service that really aims to please in a really genuine way. The place is also HUGE, so also consider it for functions!
La Grotta 104 Ramsay Street Haberfield (02) 9799 0100






One pot cooking for 15 friends? Go for a paella. I must admit I’ve always been scared off because a) it uses saffron - so expensive and how do you use it b) seafood - and lots of it - how do you time it correctly and c) well it’s kinda exotic. Well thanks to a SunRice recipe and also Donna Hay, I’ve come up with a hybrid of the two recipes that seemed to please the crowd I had over. I served it with sangria too - as long as there’s red wine, vodka, chopped fruit - the variations are up to you!