EARLY November is surely the most miserable, dank and dreich time of the year.
The autumn colours are gone, the sparkle of Christmas is still weeks away and each day seems colder, wetter and darker than the one before.
It’s a time you start to yearn for somewhere brighter and some warmth in your bones.
Who would have thought you could find that up a spiral staircase just a few steps off Union Street?
But the warm welcome and vivid colours of Casa Gabriele certainly lifted our spirits as we decided to drive cold winter away with a taste of Tuscany.
We were catching up with a couple of pals – non-meat eaters no less – and decided a place that specialised in pasta and seafood would be the ideal compromise.
We shared two starters between the four of us, the seafood selection (£7.90) for the non-carnivores and the mixed antipasto (£8.90) for us shameless meat eaters.
Both were superb, with the prawn, calamari, monkfish and mussels arriving in more-ish, lightly spiced broth.
Meanwhile, the salami, pancetta, roasted veg and slightly too-fatty Parma ham was Hoovered up by my beloved and me.
There was a longish pause between starters being cleared and mains arriving, but the wait was worth it.
My fish-eating friend Brendan kept up the seafood theme with a spaghetti marinara (£10.90) that had even more of that tender monkfish, plump mussels and melt-in-the-mouth squid.
Meanwhile, Anna was delighted with her veggie ravioli alla Napoletana (£8.50), tender parcels of pasta stuffed with ricotta and parmesan, aided and abetted by a creamy tomato sauce.
I have to admit to being underwhelmed by my pizza salami piccante (£8.90). It didn’t deliver the zing I had hoped for and was saltier than I like. Far saltier. It didn’t stop me finishing it, but it upped my water quota.
The star of the night though was my beloved’s penne gratinate (£8.90)
Tender pasta quills were combined with the tastiest chicken breast, peas, bechamel and parmesan sauce before being baked.
The result was deliciously rich, without being sickly, and pasta with a bit of bite that created a stunning texture.
This was the soul food we wanted on this bleak November night.
As we bundled on coats and gloves we were full of nods of appreciation for the fine feast and warm atmosphere.
If only we had the climate to match this Med marvel.