The official launch of semi fine dining Italian restaurant Pietro Ristorante Italiano has recently been announced by celebrity chef Peter Neo. If you are wondering what ‘Pietro’ means, it is Italian for ‘Peter’! Well-known for his superb culinary skills, witty and innovative creations for fusion Italian food, Chef Peter Neo is widely sought after for food demonstrations, interviews for events, radio and TV programmes. I met Chef Peter for myself and clearly, creativity is the key to his success as he demonstrates quick wit and innovation in creating new dishes, blending European tastes with local preferences that are surprisingly palatable.
Pietro Ristorante Italiano is located along 12 Jalan Kelulut off Yio Chu Kang Road. No doubt it is slightly off the beaten track but at least Pietro offers valet parking to customers who drive. Definitely a very nice place to unwind and chill after work or during the weekend, over a glass of wine!
Featuring a total seating capacity of 88 seats, Pietro has an alfresco dining for 32 pax and indoor seating for 56 pax. Pietro has a luxurious touch to its interior decor as well, with a beautiful feature wall (more photos at the end of this post) that blends into the alfresco dining area and it really made me want to fly to Europe there and then!
Pietro uses only the freshest, top quality ingredients and original homemade sauces in their dishes. The open area around the Pietro red wood fired oven allows customers to witness how their pizzas are being made by the chefs!
It was a delight to start our dinner with the Prosciutto & Melone ($18). Paper thin, pinkish red Parma ham wrapped with rock melon proved to be a refreshing starter. The intense and lightly salty taste of the parma ham was masked to a good extent by the sweet rock melon slices.
I strongly recommend the Zuppa di Mare ($12) which was a very flavorful and full-bodied seafood soup concocted with prawn, clams, mussels, squids in tomato sauce, white wine, basil leaves and chilli. Had to resist the urge to lick the bowl clean! True story.
The Funghi Portobello ($20) was baked with crabmeat, ebiko and prawn. Tasted absolutely brilliant when dressed up with the rich and creamy gorgonzola sauce!
If i had to point out one dish that failed to impress me, it had to be the Gnocchi alla Marinara ($22). Ok honestly, I’m not sure what exactly makes up a perfect gnocchi in terms of texture but I found it quite mushy instead of being chewy. The marinara sauce was perfect though.
Chef Peter’s roasted pork belly was one of the most highly sought after dishes at his former restaurants and I was really looking forward to his Pancetta Arrosto ($26). The roasted pork belly was served with porcini, kidney beans and apple sauce. Chef Peter was able to create a magnificent roasted pork belly that was remarkably tender on the inside and crispy on the outside because the pork was steamed before it was roasted. The tangy apple sauce served at the side was made from scratch and was indeed a wonderful accompaniment for the roasted pork belly.
I bet misterchewy’s favorite dish for the night was the Costolette di Agnello ($42). The Australian lamb rack in gorgonzola sauce was grilled to perfection and it was fall off the bone tender. We couldn’t fault this one!
After tasting Chef Peter’s Spaghetti alle Vongole ($18), I must say that he has certainly raised the bar for what seems to be the perfect Vongole. The pasta was al dente and the Vongole sauce had a beautiful creamy texture even without the addition of cream and also had the rich flavors of the sea.
Surely, a pizza named after Chef Peter had to be at least good, if not fantastic. The Pizza Pietro ($26) was topped with Chef Peter’s homemade pork sausage which had a nice hint of herbs and spices. I love a chewy pizza base and its crust was crispy with some parts slighly chewy due to the presence of air bubbles in the crust.
Chef Peter has a secret method for these Calamari Fritti ($18). The squid body rings were lightly coated with homemade batter and deep fried to a beautiful golden crisp, while retaining a slight chewy texture within.
Even though we were pretty full by then, we couldn’t wait to try the desserts!
We thought we were too full and could only stomach a mouthful or two of the Tortino di Lava con Rum ($15) but it appeared otherwise. The warm luxurious molten chocolate lava with rum was simply exquisite beyond words!
Newly released in Pietro’s menu, the Tortino alla Frutta ($14.80) is a slight variation from the chocolate lava with rum. Deliciously sweet and tart frutti lava made this an amazing dessert as well!
Seems like this oozing molten phenomenon is a consistency at Pietro. Thumbs up!
Chef Peter was eager to let us try his Tiramisu ($12) even though we had raised the white flag. It was moist and slightly spongy soft, so I suppose it had the right amount of coffee liquer in it. The mascarpone was surprisingly light and creamy. There was one thing for sure though, the tiramisu was a little too bitter than what I would have liked it to be.
And this is the beautiful feature wall at the alfresco dining area! It was kinda cold indoors, so my lens fogged almost instantly. So here’s a tip, take all the photos you want first!
Pietro is offering a very sweet deal! There is a 1-for-1 promotion for lunch from 11.30 am to 2.30pm on weekdays, excluding public holidays. Be sure to drop by!
Thank you AT Marketing Consultancy and Chef Peter for the invitation and for hosting us.
Pietro Ristorante Italiano
12 Jalan Kelulut
Singapore 809030
Tel: 6484 5528
Opening Hours:
11.30am – 2.30pm (Lunch)
6pm – 11pm (Dinner) Close on Mondays temporary till further notice (except public holidays and eve of public holidays, close on the day after public holiday).