Four of us - two couples - ate at the Dalla Cia restaurant "Pane e Vino" last week. Our friends had eaten there before, but this was the first time for my wife and me. What a discovery: a restaurant in the Cape Winelands, in Stellenbosch, that could as well have been in Italy! We have travelled extensively and eaten in several parts of Italy, but the meal we had here, at "Pane e Vino", was easily as good as any we had there. The gnocchi made with ricotta and spinach, served in melted, truffle-flavoured butter, were light, beautifully flavoured and simply delicious! The ravioli in fresh tomato sauce were also superb. The Dalla Cia wines we ordered complimented the food beautifully, and flavourful ice cream and chocolate desserts, together with coffee and a shot of grappa rounded off the meal perfectly.
What is really good about this restaurant is that the menu consists of only a few items, chalked up on a board, and that ingredients are absolutely fresh, cooked just before service. Once a particular dish is sold out, it's rubbed off the board. So get there early to make sure of the widest possible choice. We will definitely be back - often!