When you think of Devon you think of boats, battered fish and beer gardens. In Dartmouth specifically, however, there is a special restaurant that squashes these clichés, and in fact, exceeds many of the capital’s renowned restaurants. The namesake of the southern Italian hometown of his grandparents, Andria is a Michelin-awarded restaurant humbly situated in the nautical town’s charming streets with chef-owner Luca Berardino at the helm.
On an early summer evening, we arrive in Dartmouth and venture upstairs above the main dining space to Luca’s intimate Chef’s Table. As his team cater to the reservations downstairs, up here Luca hosts his very own culinary party for just us, and two other lucky diners. With his food taking centre stage with highly crafted, exceptional flavours, Luca’s convivial, relaxed persona gives the impression from the get-go that we’ve been invited to his house for dinner as the pots pang and aromas fill the small but exciting space.
Seated around a communal table, we sip on flutes of champagne as Luca passionately prepares each course whilst we openly chat about his dynamic background cast between Paris, Italy, and the UK which nurtured his love of great food and brilliant cooking. A nod to his Italian ‘nonna’ upon which the restaurant’s concept is built, our menu for the evening begins with freshly baked focaccia served with a generous side of his soft, smoked butter as Luca runs us through our line-up of delectable dishes to come.
Drawing on the delights of local Devonshire produce, the first dish is scallops from the local town of Torbay finished with a fragrant blend of lime and coconut. Embodying delicious Thai flavours, Luca and his team paired this with a 2021 Montefalco Bianco from Umbria in Italy – a light and vinous white wine which cut through the aromatic flavours. A dish entitled ‘All the Red Mullet’ followed which Luca served with freshly diced tomatoes and finished with a crispy skin. Moving across Europe with a wine paired from Spain: a 2020 Albarino Lias Rias Baixas, Martin Codax, considered a versatile wine that pairs well with seafood, shellfish, and white meat.
An inspired chicken dish with hazelnuts added a rich, nutty flavour, balanced with fresh seasonal asparagus, and was washed down with a 2022 Langhe Nebbiolo DOC San Giacomo, also suitably from Italy with a full-bodied finish. The crescendo of Luca’s Chef Table menu was also our highlight of the evening. Served with glasses of a 2017 Altimus, El Esteco from Argentina offering a rich, complex flavour; Luca plated up perfectly pink cuts of aged Hereford fillet of beef served with a beef fat rosti, spinach, shimeji Asian mushrooms and red wine jus. A dish itself we agreed we would return to Devon for alone.
Moving from savoury to sweet, a creative ‘Cream Tea’ dessert was a gorgeous blend of zingy, fruit flavours which Luca described as combining all the best flavours of the classic afternoon tea that Devon is known for, deconstructed in his own style. An eating experience that circled back to his family roots, to finish Luca recreated his grandmother Rosa’s madeleines, freshly baked with local Dartmouth honey and served warm with for us to break apart and savour.
Passionate about creating food that is undeniably delicious and that he too loves to eat, Luca stays in his lane when designing his menus, putting the experience of his diners at the forefront of everything he does whilst not drawing inspiration or competing with other Michelin restaurants. Having previously created dishes inspired by the Big Mac, Luca reinvents any pre-conceived ideas of fine dining with a flavour-first attitude and a humble, down-to-earth character. A rarity to come across for a chef of such talent.
We leave as Luca shuts up his small but brilliant lockdown-born restaurant and the feeling of being invited into the home of a superb chef continues as he shares tips on local coffee shops to visit the following morning. This embodies his approachable character and style of cooking that is refreshingly unpretentious, coming alive for his guests that sit eagerly at his Chef’s Table.
Factbox
Address: 5 Lower St, Dartmouth TQ6 9AJ
Phone: 01803 833222
Website: andriadartmouth.com
