La Bottega Delle Langhe, Goodramgate

FOR those who enjoy the twin pleasures of food and eating out, there can be few greater pleasures than discovering a new place to go, somewhere a bit off the beaten track that others have yet to find.

It's like harbouring a delicious secret. Once discovered, the identity of the new place is jealously guarded among those who know about it. Only a favoured few may be told of its whereabouts.

You get the impression this is how people who have discovered the lovely Italian caf La Bottega Delle Langhe in Goodramgate might feel. A bit protective, as if they don't want other people to know it's there.

You might certainly miss La Bottega, with its narrow shop front giving little clue that behind the delicatessen at the forefront of the shop there lies a backroom with a handful of tables, and even a canvas-covered back yard where you can sit and eat under the warmth of a thoughtfully placed hot brazier.

The underground word about this place is making it so popular it took us three attempts to get a table for Saturday lunch, but the smiling waitress took pity on us on our third visit and let us know that another group of lunchers were leaving and we would be able to take their table.

Once inside, La Bottega is a delightfully warm and intimate place, with a few simple wooden tables, a smell of freshly brewing coffee, and a tantalising view of that day's fresh pastries and cakes piled high on the counter.

The menu is short, simple but wonderful, in that effortlessly sophisticated way Italians do so well. There's a board of meats or cheeses served with fresh bread - £5.80 for four meats and £6 for four cheeses. Or you could have cured meats, served with things such as seasonal fruits and different kinds of salad; Piadina (£4.30) - "traditional grilled flat bread served warm with a choice of three fillings, parma ham, mozzarella and rocket, for example; or cheese 'fonduta' (£5.20) - a lovely little pot of melted cheese with truffle oil, croutons and a warm potato salad.

My dining companion Martin's cured duck breast with herb salad and country bread (£5.20) looked gorgeous - a big heap of thinly sliced, dark-pink duck meat with a lovely aromatic salad, some blackly sweet preserve, and big basket of fresh, crusty bread. It was a delight, the duck meat tender, its saltiness contrasted with the sweet preserve and salad leaves.

My wild boar prosciutto with bean salad (£6) could have won a beauty contest for its gorgeous looks, and it tasted just as good. The prosciutto salty and rich, the bean salad earthy, consoling and warm. We both drank a fresh juice (£1.30) with our first course - mine pear, Martin's red orange. Both were tasty, fresh and vibrant.

If all this adoring praise is starting to make you feel slightly nauseous, it is probably best to stop reading this review, because our lunch carried on in the same delicious vein when we ordered puddings. I can't remember what they all were because our waitress listed them all off the top of her head - but I do recall the mention of traditional Italian panettone and apple strudel. Martin ordered a tart of chocolate and hazelnut, while I chose one with pistachio and fig.

You probably get the idea by now that both were lovely, served simply with a dollop of rich mascarpone. My tart had a thick layer of vibrant green pistachio beneath a layer of jellied figs, while Martin's was smooth, silky and rich.

It being an Italian cafe, I ordered a latte to accompany my pudding - safe in the knowledge it was bound to be a good one, not the kind of watery apology for a decent coffee with which one is often served. I was right. The latte was, of course, everything it should be, smooth and strong.

Martin had a "bicerin" - espresso and hot chocolate with double cream. It was delicious. Darkly chocolatey with an underlying bite of espresso.

Our bill came to £22. Well worth it for two lovely courses and coffee.

So to all those people who have been enjoying La Bottega Delle Langhe up until now, I apologise. I'm afraid the secret's out.

Lucy and Martin visited La Bottega Delle Langhe on Saturday, February 25, 2006.

La Bottega Delle Langhe, Goodramgate. Tel: 01904 622584.

Food: faultless

Service: very friendly

Value: pretty good

Ambience: cosy

Disabled access: No

Updated: 08:45 Saturday, March 04, 2006