“My friend is a massive pizza lover. His oven-fired Toscana pizza on a house-made tomato base featured yum Fior di latte.” WENDY JOHNSON enjoys an exciting addition to dining in Belconnen.

When we walked through the doors of one of Belconnen’s newest restaurants, we were warmly welcomed by Gianni Guglielmin.

Gianni’s, named after the man himself, is an exciting addition to Belco’s dining scene and holds a prime position right underneath The Mercure. Seating 95 inside and with a few seats outside near the adjoining gelato bar, Gianni’s is Italian through and through.

The new venue, with its smart fit out, has got off on the right foot, but that’s no surprise given Gianni has operated popular Briscola Italian in the city for more than 15 years. He knows a thing or two about what makes customers tick and he knows that unpretentious, authentic Italian dishes warm the heart.

We secured a perfect possie by the massive windows that feature at Gianni’s, ordering two mocktails – the San Bitter Spritz ($10) and Virgin+ Mojito ($13). The calamari fritte (generous serve for $22), which we shared to start, hit the spot. The baby calamari was tender, the fresh rocket peppery, and the lemon caper mayonnaise smooth, thick and creamy. We squirted fresh lemon on top and dug in.

My friend is a massive pizza lover and struggled in deciding whether to order a rossa or bianca base. In the end, the rossa won. His oven-fired Toscana pizza on a house-made tomato base featured yum Fior di latte. It was loaded with mushrooms, garlic, grilled eggplant and roasted red capsicum ($24 for 28 centimetres). There wasn’t a crumb left. 

I craved pasta, but was challenged to choose because the line-up was too enticing. My linguine di mare ($36 with either olive oil or Napoli sugo) featured plump King prawns, silky scallops and magical mussels. The sugo was intensely flavoured, and I loved the white wine chilli and cherry tomato elements.

For greens, we shared a super-fresh rocket salad ($15) with fresh pear, walnuts, citronette and balsamic, with all ingredients beautifully balanced.

Gianni’s has a great lunch expresso combo ($25 per person), including a house vino, small Capital Coast Ale or soft drink (choose from a pasta, warm salad or classic pizza). The Bambini menu is for kids 12 and under (meal plus ice cream for $16). A special section of alternate dishes and options to meet dietary needs is available.

To top off our experience, we decided not to order dessert at our table. Instead, we went around the corner to Gianni’s cute gelato bar (street entrance). Both gelato and sorbet are made by the owner of Romano’s Pizzeria, Queanbeyan, with no additives. My combo of raspberry and Belgian chocolate flavours was classic ($9 for a double).

The service at Gianni’s was friendly and efficient. 

All up? Gianni’s is belissimo.