Galleria at Home

Words by Suzanne Bird

Photos, various

Over the last five years, my partner Phil and I have been great fans of Galleria seafood bar on Norman Road in St Leonards.  We have celebrated many anniversaries, birthdays and random Saturday nights in their compact and cosy dining room, enjoying Gianluca’s imaginative cooking, Jack’s warm welcome and the impeccable wine list.  I’m sure we weren’t alone in feeling quietly devastated to hear that Jack and Gianluca planned to close the restaurant at the end of November, whilst being delighted for them that they wanted to embark on a new venture.

Galleria relaunched in early December as a Italian deli with a mouth-watering array of chilled and ambient goodies, including an array of tempting cheeses.  We bought some of these, including some incredible olive oil as a gift for a friend, but we couldn’t pass up on some of Gianluca’s home-made delights too. His focaccia is surely the tastiest this side of Sicily and his melt-in-the-mouth pecorino biscuits definitely perked up our Christmas cheese board.

As an extra new offering, and to give us all the chance to still enjoy Gianluca’s recipes, the couple have now launched Galleria at Home.  This is a series of recipe kits that include everything we need to recreate a delicious Italian meal in our own homes.  Following the printed method, with just a little effort on our own part, we can combine and cook the given ingredients at home.  The first Galleria at Home kit was launched last week, and a different recipe will be available every week (and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Instagram for all the vegetarian ones).

I had to try out Galleria at Home for myself.  I brought home my brown paper bag of pasta-based deliciousness on a grey and rainy afternoon, and it contained everything I needed to cook Strozzapreti with zucchini, pesto and menta and imagine I was in sunny Italy.

The set-by-step instructions were easy to follow, and even though I am not used to having every stir of the pan photographed by Phil, it all went pretty smoothly.  I could have eaten the aromatic, chunky Galleria courgette pesto on its own with a spoon, but I refrained.  It coated the pasta perfectly, and tasted wonderful.  The melted Galleria parmesan cream and a touch of chopped mint added an indulgent and perfectly balanced finishing touch to a simple meal with a delicious combination of fresh flavours.  We even lit a couple of candles and opened some not-so-dry-January wine to pretend we were dining out!

Other customers have excitedly sent Jack photos of their own versions of the dish, which are featured here alongside our own.  Phil said that we should maybe have added a green salad and some of Gianluca’s focaccia, so maybe that’s an idea you could add to your purchase of Galleria at Home if you decide to give it a try.

There may possibly be some small supper clubs in Galleria’s future, and we’d be first in line, but in the meantime I’d thoroughly recommend visiting the Galleria deli and trying the Galleria at Home option soon. Buon appetito!