When they say an eatery is authentic, what exactly do they mean, how authentic is authentic and does it matter? Are they talking about those trendy places in Parkhurst or Greenside that have somewhat of a regional theme? Perhaps they are referring to classic dishes from the culture at hand? To me, authentic means that when you walk in to the restaurant, you are the only person in the place who speaks English, the people around you have been coming there for donkeys years, the place is 167th generation owned and managed and everyone seems to know each other, a real sense of family and community.

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Do most claimed authentic establishments meet this criteria, unfortunately not. However, on walking into Da Graziella on Sunday afternoon with my wife for what was promised to be an authentic Italian lunch, I was pretty much blown away! The place looks simple and old fashioned, the menu is a couple of typed pages in a plastic binder, serviettes are straight from the Pick n’ Pay down the road and there are kids running around screaming at each other in Italian – it was exactly what I was looking for!

The place is exceptional and beautifully disorganised. The bread came after the starter while the drinks came after that. They make no excuse for that and why should they, you are not in Sandton and it makes the place that much more charming anyway. To be honest I can’t stand perfectly efficient service, where they have you in and out in an hour. That’s not what it should be about.

The food was amazing. For starters we shared these funny little deep fried rice balls with mice meat and mozzarella inside them. Main course was the Roast Rabbit for me (their most popular dish) and Napolitana Gnochi for my wife. I have never had rabbit before and although I felt bad for 5 minutes because a rabbit could be someone’s pet, I quickly forgot about that once that beautiful rich taste began permeating my taste buds, mmmm, my mouth is watering just replaying the moments in my mind!

Dessert was chocolate mousse and this long phyllo parcel filled with Ricotta, mixed fruits and some other stuff, WOW is all I can say!

The prices were great and nothing on the menu, including seafood dishes, is over R100. Rare these days!

I think what makes the place even more special is that it shows that there are still places where families and friends meet every week, share great food and wine, kids play together and the owners actually come and introduce themselves to you because you are new. This sense of the restaurant being part of the community has been completely lost amongst the trendy northern suburb eateries and although this place will probably never make it onto the eatout.co.za top 20, it is has a real warmth and genuine ambience which none of those Michelin type of places can ever match.

You can find it at the corner of Dunvegan Avenue and Boeing Road East, Dunvegan, Johannesburg.

Tel: 011 454 6202

Opening times:

Lunch Tues – Sun
Dinner Tues – Sat