MICHELLE TOMPKINS finds a warm — but not too warm —welcome at Italian

I’M not a big fan of the over-effusive welcome you get in some Italian restaurants – all that Ciao Bella…mwah, mwah…sweaty hug stuff makes me squirm at the invasion of personal space.

So when we were greeted with a loud exclamation and the outstretched arms of the owner of Gaetano in Victoria Road I braced myself for the inevitable. What a relief when he went in for a hearty handshake instead of a kiss, and a few words asking after our health instead of a stream of phoney compliments.

Not that we are regulars or anything. It turns out that Roberto Di Frances-Cantonio (as I have since discovered is his fantastically Italian name) recognised us from our visits to Fratello down the road, where he worked himself before taking over at Gaetano a few months ago. Some memory that, and a nice touch that made us feel instantly at home.

If you haven’t been to Gaetano in a while, you are due another visit. The same striking tricolour green, white and red façade remains but the inside has changed radically. Gone are the dark colours and dusty knick-knacks I remember from a few years ago, replaced by fresh, white-washed walls hung with carafes and plates depicting those quaint little Italian villages set into hillsides. The tables are laid with crisp white table clothes instead of red checks, and upbeat Italian pop songs pay in the background rather than the old-fashioned cheesy operatic stuff.

Gone too is the giant menu offering everything under the sun. In its place is a select offering of mostly pasta or pizza, with a few meat and fish specials chalked on a board.

Wanting to keep my starter light for the heavier pasta to follow, I chose the classic insalata Caprese (£5.95). The layers of red tomato, creamy white mozzarella and green pesto (instead of basil leaves, in this case) were drizzled in olive oil and made a refreshing introduction to Italy, visually and on the tastebuds.

But the award for best starter went to my partner, who chose the peperoni ripieno (£6.95) to begin, a dish of stuffed peppers with a breadcrumb topping and cheese sauce. With the vivid red and yellow pepper halves crammed full of veg, and the cheese bubbling away on top, it was the kind of plate you can’t help photographing, and he loved every mouthful.

Another test of an Italian classic came with my choice of main course; the pasta polpetta (£9.95), homemade meatballs in a tomato sauce, served with tagliatelle. The bowl was vast and filled to the brim, which incited a touch of food envy from across the table… until his huge carnivora pizza arrived (£12.95) and a satisfied smile crept back onto his face.

If I’m completely honest, my meatballs were good but not out of this world. I was baffled by the fact that they had been chopped into smaller pieces – possibly to make them more bite-sized, but I have been using cutlery for the best part of 46 years now and am very capable of chopping them myself, thanks all the same. But it was decent dish and there was plenty of it - and priced under a tenner - so I’m not going to grumble too much.

The pizza, featuring chicken, ham and pepperoni, looked sensational though; a lovely, thin base, slightly charred on the edges from the pizza oven, and generous with the toppings. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to finish this,” were the only words I could make out during its demolition, but soon afterwards he was polishing off the last crust and scraping the design off the plate.

With takeaway pizza joints on every corner in Swindon and more Italian restaurants springing up all the time, there’s a fair bit of competition vying for the pizza crown. But Gaetano is up there with the best (and trust me, we have tried a few).

Desserts are either tiramisu, cheesecake or crème caramel (all £4.50 and said to be homemade), but they were an impossibility. Instead, that every-so-nice man Roberto offered us a Baileys on the house and it would have been rude to decline.

With a large glass of house red and two glasses of Coke, the bill came to just under £45 – not bad at all, and worth every penny for avoiding the cringe factor of having to kiss your way out of the door.

It was quiet on the Tuesday night we went, but it gets packed at the weekends so make sure you book if you want to guarantee a Friday or Saturday table.

Oh, and tell Roberto we said hi.

Gaetano
131, Victoria Road
Swindon
www.gaetanos.co.uk

Parking: No
Disabled access: Yes

Our ratings:
Food: 7/10
Choice: 7/10
Decor: 9/10
Customer service: 9/10
Main course prices: £7.95-£12.95

TripAdvisor rating: 4/5