There is something beautiful about Osteria Oggi. The striking entrance lined with bar stools; the communal style room to the back right that feels like you are dining in a secret cave; the promise of some of Adelaide’s best Italian. The four of us are here to have a lunch feast prior to the AFL final later tonight at Adelaide Oval between Port Adelaide and the Eagles. There is that finals buzz in the air on a nice sunny day. People are happy here, and the service staff vibrant and enthusiastic. We order a bunch of entrees and mains, some to share, and some to ourselves. Coffin Bay oysters are an absolutely delicious way to start, definitely in tune with the celebratory feel. The veal tongue is rich, served generously, and done like a veal tonnato, but probably best for just a taste. On the other hand, the sausage polpette was a dish that you could probably keep eating and eating. Meatballs, tomato, pecorino cheese, and bread, is a combination that is always some degree of good. In this case it was exceptional. Not far off were the sardines. Again, something so simple, but so delicious. I was already making plans to come back here the next time we are in Adelaide. In a similar vein, my main of housemade pappardelle with shaved pork liver, is about as rich as it comes. Then pasta is beautiful, and the deep flavour of the liver makes for an incredible dish. Towards the end I was struggling, but that wouldn’t put me off ordering it again. It was a seriously good pasta. Trav ordered the spaghetti carbonara, which uses guanciale (cheek), to lift the dish to even greater heights. I think it may have been one of the better pastas Trav had eaten. Catherine and Kerry both couldn’t go past the gnocchi with lamb and peas, a parmesan crust, and celeriac puree. While they found our pastas delicious, they really enjoyed their gnocchi. In particular, Catherine had it above Tipo 00’s which is no mean feat. As satisfied as we were, nothing was going to get in the way of our dessert. Front and centre, the Oggi take on tiramisu, with coffee anglaise, chocolate parfait and vanilla zabaione, was as delicious and decadent as it looks. A heavenly end to a heavenly meal! Osteria Oggi is a very impressive place to dine. There are obviously a lot of Italian restaurants in all the capitals of Australia. This one is in the top echelon and wouldn’t be out of place in Italy itself.