The world adores matt hayward

Last night for a bit of pre-show dinner, we decided to go to Tutto Bene for a risotto. Now normally risotto conjures up images of big, hearty bowls full of arborio rice, meat and veg you can eat till your arteries clog up. But oh no, not at Tuttos! The main rissoto sizes (for the money) are entree size at best. On average about $18 a plate. More for mains.

Admitedly, the risottos are ‘all that’. I had the El Presidente, so called because it’s a simple risotto created for a visiting Italian president. Chock full of expensive cheese and the best balsamic. But your stomach shouldn’t growl when your having coffee at dessert. You can simply fuck that with a ten foot barge pole Mr President. The Missus had a squal risotto which was sublime, but the Presidente was the pick.

As always service and ambience can turn tap water into wine. At least on the service front ‘Bene can kiss my pale white arse. When we were paying the bill, the head waiter was too pre-occupied with his stapler to even talk. Also it was 5.55 when I arrived and they opened at 6. Head waiter bloke, wouldn’t even let me have a beer at my table! We’d already booked a table, it wasn’t like I would be putting anybody out! The table staff were OK though, considering how busy it was.

Some people will skimp on good service and a full belly for a good feed, but this place belongs in the yarra, not next to it. Serve bigger servings and get a new head waiter (he may’ve been the owner) or get ‘the fuck outta Dodge’.

Well, she’s almost up to 5000km and she’s doing fine. The Turbo’s a great car for the money, but hey it ought to be and there’s a few intollerable differences I am really pissed off with.

First of all there are really ugly looking panel gaps between the drivers’ side quarter panel and the door. The panel fit is slightly jagged and a little off. There are subtle panel fit quirks elsewhere too. Secondly, the back bumper (perhaps it’s because my car is the metallic silver), in broad day light, looks really badly painted.

Now for the biggest gripe of all. The intercooler to air intake pipe. That blow off valve sound I mentioned when I first got the car, was the hose clamp bursting and the host itself coming off of the intercooler mounts. The car left the factory like this! After several failed attempts, we managed to get this clamp to hold and i’ve had no trouble since. With this clamp off, the acceleration is laclustre to say the least as the intake sucks in warm engine bay air and the intake goes to waste. When the clamp does what its meant to though, vive la difference. It fucking canes!

Apart from all these issues, the six speed is fantastic for highway cruising. It only has manners when you roll along in sixth. Even fifth has decent pickup throughout the rev range. Fourth gear is just plain rude on the highway if you’re trying to stick to the limits. Put simply, you don’t have to struggle with gears to make use of all that torque.

Ultimately, 46 grand might not be a lot of money to some to spend on a car. To others it may be a king’s ransom. But you should get decent paint and panels at any price on a domestically made car. So too a decently made 5c hose clamp. Work out these quirks and you’ve got what must be one of the most enjoyable, if not remarkable, big family sedans in the world.

What can’t be said about Circa. It simply excels in virtually all accolades.

First and foremost, they had at least 20 different selections of Chablis on the wine list. If you’ve read any of these posts, you know i’d sell my left testicle for a decent bottle of Premiere Cru. And they had it by the crate load! Their wine guy taught me a thing or three about the variety as well. Like Transport in Fed Square and plenty of places now, they had the wine FOLDER, not the wine list - and god bless them for it! Fortunately they had a Chablis Premiere Cru by the glass. $23 a pop but after two glasses you feel like you’ve been to Bordeaux.

One thing that I didn’t really get into was the ambience. It was a little too Sydney. Admitedly, I was facing window, looking at the bay and not the restaurant, but the minimalistic yet opulent decorum and upbeat mood music had me a little jumpy. This could be worked on.

Our mains were absolutely superb. I had a Moroccan inspired seafood combination dish on some huge cous cous that was far and away the best meal i’ve had in a while. There was some Mullet, some fish from WA and tiny mussels in the shell that compliented the tangine sauce beautifully. One thing is for certain, this was a reassuringly expensive meal, well worth the money. For you won’t find anything comparable to this dish just anywhere. The missus had something not too bad, but for once, I was the one that got lucky with the menu! This cous cous is far and away should be their trade mark.

Desert was a chocolate pudding, with a jaffa sauce filling, made fresh and piping hot. I found it a little dry, but especially on a winters night, what a great finish.

All in all, all the floor staff were down to earth, really knew what they were talking about and extremely top shelf. An expensive night, but also a content one. Circa is worth every cent! 5 out of 5, er, ’stars’.