Gigi's Piccolo Ristorante

Gigi's Piccolo Ristorante sits in Palma's old town, a few steps east of the Mercat de l'Olivar, in a narrow lane between the market and the shopping streets. The name tells you what to expect: piccolo means small, and small is exactly what this place is. One dining room, a few black-and-white photographs on the wall, a few plants, a couple of tables outside the door — nobody here works on the decor, they work on the food. The house is run by a couple. Gigi, born in Rome, cooks the dishes himself. His wife Jackie, half Spanish and half English and at home on Menorca since her teens, runs the dining room. The two of them lived and worked on the neighbouring island before opening up in Palma. Their own claim hangs on the wall: everything is cooked to order, with a lot of love, slow food. That is why you wait for your plate here — and why the wait is worth it. The kitchen at Gigi's Piccolo Ristorante Pasta is the core of the menu, around twenty dishes, among them house-made tagliatelle and pappardelle. The classics land properly: puttanesca, amatriciana, olio e peperoncino, spaghetti alla carbonara. The pappardelle with black truffle come exactly al dente, the tagliatelle with porcini are silkily bound, and the spaghetti with frutti di mare are not stingy with the seafood. For cacio e pepe the kitchen works with pecorino romano rather than parmigiano — noticeably saltier than most people in Spain are used to. Ask, and you will get the difference explained. The real chapter of this house, though, is the filled pasta. Ravioli with goat's cheese and figs, ravioli with spinach and ricotta, ravioli with scallops and prawns under a thin veil of tomato. On top of that come suggestions that are not on the menu at all and change regularly — ravioli with foie and pear, for instance. It pays to listen when someone comes to the table to tell you what else there is. Before the pasta come the antipasti: avocado tartare, hand-cut tartare of red tuna, beef tartare, and a mild vitello tonnato. Portions are generous and meant for sharing. Four meat dishes and three fish dishes round out the card. And before you have even ordered, a plate of grissini and mortadella from Bologna is put in front of you. Gluten-free without special treatment Eating gluten-free is not an exception here. Gluten-free pasta is a fixed part of the menu, it is prepared separately rather than dropped into the same pot, and it arrives properly cooked — anything but a given with gluten-free pasta. It does not stop at the main course: three of the six house-made desserts are gluten-free. For anyone with coeliac disease this is one of the more dependable addresses in central Palma. Dolci and wine The desserts are made in house and presented with noticeably more care than the plain room would suggest. The panna cotta with grappa is one of them, as is a cheesecake with cherries and finely chopped strawberries. If there is room left after a plate of pasta, that is the right way to finish. The wine list is predominantly Italian — pinot grigio and nero d'Avola are on it — with Spanish bottles alongside, some of them off the beaten track. Asking is worth your while: this is a house that likes to explain what is on the plate and in the glass. Small, full, and worth knowing Piccolo is not a coy understatement. There are few seats and they are regularly taken, so booking ahead is the better plan, especially if you are coming as a group. A couple of tables stand outside the door if you prefer to sit out; the small dining room, though, is the more coherent place to be. Families with children and larger parties work here just as well as dinner for two.