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“It is not a table without bread and wine”. This phrase appears on Pane & Vino’s menu and every Italian and Italian-at-heart would agree with that 100 percent. For excellent pasta and pizza, you can’t go wrong with this cute & rustic restaurant in the heart of Ponsonby. Pane & Vino is the creation of chef Tito, who moved to New Zealand from Italy in 2004. He believes in using fresh ingredients to create tasty dishes that will have you thinking you are in Italy. Pane & Vino offers a hard-to-beat lunch special Monday through Friday, where you can get a pasta dish for $10-$12 or a pizza for $12. I went this week and ordered the Linguine ai frutti di mare ($10 at lunch). You have a choice of either a white wine sauce or a tomato sauce, I chose white wine. Squid, mussels, prawns, garlic, rosemary & parsley come together to make a dish that is light, fresh and perfect for lunch: it doesn’t weigh you down. My mum and I were both surprised about how quickly our dishes came out, so if you want a quick lunch between work meetings, then Pane & Vino is the place to go. On a prior visit I ordered the Puttanesca pizza, with capers, olives, anchovies & basil. Delicious and crispy, with a thin base, Pane & Vino’s pizzas are a total steal at $12 for lunch, when one pizza can feed two (or one if you’re really hungry!) The staff are always warm and inviting which is so important for a restaurant, and that, along with the fantastic food, will keep me coming back for more.
Pane & Vino: 20 Williamson Ave, Ponsonby, Auckland.
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