Chris Lucas bursts onto Canberra's dining scene with Carlotta

Carlotta is the first of restaurant mogul Chris Lucas’s Canberra venues, but the restaurateur has made no secret that he’s looking to open more.

He recently announced that he’s taking over the space briefly occupied by ill-fated Botswana Butchery with a French bistro and told Region that he will open a Chin Chin location in the next few years.

But for now, the focus is firmly on Carlotta, the loosely Italian/Mediterranean-themed upmarket dining venue at Scott’s Crossing.

“People asked me ‘why Canberra’, but it’s because it has quite a sophisticated, hot, young, really energetic food scene. It reminds me a lot of Melbourne 20 years ago when this dining culture really started taking off there,” Mr Lucas explained.

“People in Canberra really know their stuff. There’s no doubt that there’s a rich culture of food here.”

Mr Lucas also said that a lot of the dishes at Carlotta are new to the group and can’t be found on menus in his other restaurants in Melbourne or Sydney, explaining he wanted to offer something different for Canberra.

Region attended a ‘soft opening’ – launched by Chief Minister Andrew Barr – to try out the offerings of this much-anticipated restaurant.

Walking in, the impressive wood-fired oven immediately strikes you, but this isn’t a pizza restaurant. Following the Mediterranean style, the chefs are cooking lots of different dishes in the wood oven, including a whole lamb shoulder and focaccia di recco al Formaggio (thin bread layered with cheese and baked).

Despite some pretty deluxe options – Lobster a l’Americaine for $165.50 or 1 kg eye fillet for $220.50, Lucas can’t go past the Chicken alla Griglia with garlic, anchovy and lemon ($55.50).

“We debone the chicken, press it down, and then baste it with olive oil, capers, and lemon juice. Then, we pop it in the wood oven and finish it off on the grill. It’s sliced and put on big beautiful plates It’s one of my favourite dishes.”

All the pasta will be handmade in-house in a specialty pasta kitchen, but the food miles on the mozzarella are much higher with fresh buffalo mozzarella flown in weekly from Naples. Despite knowing the specific origins of the Napoli cheese, there wasn’t much information available about the beef. Call me old-fashioned, but for those prices, I’d like to know a little more about how that steak was raised and where it came from.

Oysters are delivered every other day from a farm in Batemans Bay and shucked to order.

After attending the launch dinner, it’s clear that the experience of Chris Lucas’s team has resulted in a very slick operation. All the dishes were delicious, and the house-made pasta with crab was exceptional. The olive martini was particularly nice, and we also very much enjoyed the classic tiramisu dessert. The di recco al formaggio lived up to the hype with its crisp exterior and oozing cheese.

While it would be very easy to spend big on a dinner at Carlotta, you could also get away with a pasta and a few antipasti for around $50 a head, so it’s more accessible than a first glance at the menu might suggest. Chris Lucas is looking to make his mark on Canberra’s food scene, and Carlotta is an opening gambit that will bring a lot of attention.

Carlotta is located at 20 Scott’s Crossing, Canberra City. Carlotta is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week from 11:30 am until late. Follow them on Instagram and book online.

Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Riotact.