Indulge love affair with Italian cuisine at Caffe Aroma

Parma ham salad and Pinot Grigio at Caffe Aroma

IF your attempts at making pasta and ragu (Italian meat-based sauce) have crashed and burned, despair not – Caffe Aroma, a newly-opened Italian restaurant on Enterprise Road, serves a variety of superb pasta dishes, all made by Chef Marina, in her state-of-the art Italian kitchen.

Previously operating out of Hurworth Road in Highlands, Caffe Aroma sought new premises when Dr Nancy Jonker made plans to build a new Well Woman Clinic on the site of the old Rhodesian house, formerly occupied by Caffe Aroma and other thriving businesses. New brooms sweep clean, and before moving into 167 Enterprise Road, once home to Theo’s House of Coffees, major renovations were carried out by Walter and Marina, the owners of Caffe Aroma, and the restaurant is now more popular than ever.

Inside, the decor is tasteful and minimalist, the walls hung with paintings by well-known Zimbabwean artist Daryl Nero. Tables are also set on the verandah, and down a flight of steps into a green and pleasant garden, where two ornamental bantams and a speckledy hen roam in search of occasional bread crumbs.

Although the wait staff, dressed in trendy black trousers and shirts, bear more than a passing resemblance to Benito Mussolini’s fasci di combattimento in early 20th C Italy, they are friendly, helpful and efficient. Our waiter directed us to a comfortable table with upright chairs in the garden and left us for a few minutes to study the menu.

There’s no liquor licence at Caffe Aroma, but patrons are welcome to bring their own. We sipped a glass of Pinot grigio, a zesty and refreshing white wine, uncomplicated in taste, but pairing well with Italian food, whether meat, fish, vegetarian or pasta. It went down particularly well with the complimentary fresh bread and tapenade (black olives chopped with olive oil, capers and anchovies) starter, unique to Caffe Aroma.

The lunch specials chalked up on a board on the lawn all looked so enticing, it was difficult to make a choice. George and I had chomped our way through the bread and tapenade, but our appetites were keener than ever. An antipasto salad of Parma ham, fresh Mozzarella cheese, fried cheese balls, crispy capers and tomato salad with Parmesan shavings and pesto dressing was a gourmet’s delight, beautiful to behold, and delicious to eat. Freshly-picked micro greens offset the salty, dry cured ham and creamy Mozzarella, while the fried cheese balls and Parmesan shavings created different levels of flavours to blend with the lightly roasted yellow and red tomatoes and occasional shots of tangy pesto sauce.

Why fly to the city of Naples or visit your grandmother in Bologna to eat lasagne? Rather sit in comfort in the garden at Caffe Aroma and eat this delicious combination of fine sheets of pasta, slowly-simmered meat sauce and nutmeg-flavoured bechamel sauce, made by Chef Marina.This popular dish could explain why so many people in Harare have a love affair with Italian cuisine.

I have a duty to my readers to taste as many dishes as possible, so it was time for a flavoursome Illy coffee, created by an Italian coffee roasting company in Trieste in 1933, and served with style by Walter. The carrot cake was rich, yet delicate, and should be tried by everyone who thinks that they make the best carrot cake in town. The semifreddo, a frozen dessert of eggs, sugar and cream, was served on a drizzle of strawberry coulis. Garnished with strawberries and a lone Viola flower, it looked delicious.

When Italians frequent an Italian restaurant, you can be sure that the food is good. The guests at the table behind us spent many minutes Skyping in Italian, and later Skyping in English, telling a friend how good the food was at Caffe Aroma. On this recommendation, don’t hesitate to book a table. But if you can’t spare the time to hang out at Caffe Aroma, you can always order a take out.  – A Matter of Taste with Charlotte Malakoff

Caffe Aroma
167 Enterprise Road
Highlands
Harare
Open Monday to Saturday: 7.30 – 16.30
Closed Sunday
Mobile: 0772 235 693
Comments to: cmalakoff@gmail.com