There is a small wine bar in Mosta (Eucharistic Congress Road), just a stone’s throw away from the Mosta Dome, which you might not have heard about yet. A little bird told me about it, so I thought it would be a good place to catch up with TV presenter and undisputed king of comedy – Ray Calleja.
It looks like we are the first guests of the evening. An old man sitting on the porch tells us that this is “the best wine bar in Malta” and the owner sitting next to him, smiles shyly and welcomes us inside. He looks like one of those doctors on ER; Tall, suave, with seaweed green eyes that could calm a storm and could keep a 40-something-year-old-maiden occupied.
Before it became Il Vecchio Forno, this place used to be a bakery, supplying bread for the inhabitants of Mosta between 1903-1973. In 2006 the current owners decided to convert it into a wine bar, and by 2008 works were finally ready and so… Here I am to see what this is all about!
We choose one of the nine tables available, and as we settle onto the wooden chairs I get the feeling that this place serves better wine than gossip. It gives me a very good vibe, and to be really honest, I was not expecting it to look so neat either. Unfortunately, sometimes we all have preconceived ideas about something.
Ray is looking dashing in a black skimpy shirt and the ubiquitous blue jeans. The shirt has lost a couple of buttons, just so the silver chain around his neck can catch the eye. To go with it, there is a stunning ring on his left hand which he tells me he designed himself.
I can’t resist asking him if he prefers to look old and feel young, or look young and feel old. He says that he definitely prefers the first option.
Dr Forno turns up with the menus. He explains the specialities, and tells us about their special pizza which is baked in a stone oven in a very traditional way.
“We might as well try it,” Ray says, tapping his pointy toed shoes in anticipation. “And I’ll have some ravioli to start with cause I’m famished today!”
I’m not so hungry, but I decide to go for the pizza too, and just so Ray does not eat his ravioli alone, I tell Dr Forno that I will have their home-made broccoli soup to start with. Once I have time to fully study the menus I see that besides the focaccia and pizzas, they have a selection of platters and dips. A small board on the wall also lists the various daily specialities available.
We then have a look at the wine menu, and I think it is very well presented. It has around 130 different local and foreign wines to choose from, with an additional list of Donna Fugata wines. However, what really catches my eye is the selection of organic wines you can find at Il Vecchio Forno. I have come across organic wines abroad, but so far have not seen any on our island.
“Let’s get the Donna Fugata Anthilia,” Ray says, striking a relaxed posture, mentally washing away a gruelling day of work.
I’m wondering as whom he would want to live for one year if he had the chance to do so.
“I’d live my year as Miss Malta,” he says, with a twinkle in his dark eyes. Well, they do last a year after all. I wonder if he would also lobby for world peace, try to have a say on the global warming, pout day and night, and cook salads, like I suspect some of the seasoned ones do.
“And if you had to choose one actor to play your life story,” I quiz back. “Who would that be?”
He thinks about it for a while, and not finding any local artist who could probably carry out the role he settles for Jim Carrey. Spot on! I see Jimmy boy playing Ray.
Suddenly, an attractive woman who I assume is the partner/wife/girlfriend/sister/ of Dr Forno comes out of the kitchen and informs me that the broccoli soup has blue cheese in it. Am I allergic? I assure Nurse Forno that all is okay. I have to do it about three times cause her eyes have that startled look that leave me confused whether she fully believes me or not.
The Donna Fugata priced at €11 tastes good. It’s round and elegant, with a precise personality of fruity and floral sensations. It has a hint of peaches and plums and I detect a scent of Mediterranean vegetation.
The wine bar has filled up. Now there are four girls who seem to be genius medicine students on their last year of university discussing all sorts of excruciatingly boring science-related topics when in reality they have “Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight” written on their foreheads. Closer to us there are two foreign couples that seem to ooh and aaah about anything they see, and a group of five men who are enjoying some wine and food and appreciating each others company. Il Vecchio Forno might not be the place inhabited by City Slickers, but the mix is nice, and Dr Forno tells me that he does not admit any wailing babies. This is a wine bar after all!
The food is glorious. My broccoli soup is lovely, and Ray’s ravioli look as enticing. After we finish with the starters, we are asked when we would like our pizza to be served. We are both ready for it.
Dr Forno and Nurse Forno bring over the Pizza Parma (€7) and Pizza Vecchio Forno (€8.50). The great appeal of such dishes is that they can’t be simulated. Okay, they are not served on 18th century Coalport china but the food tastes as good as if you had cooked it yourself.
As we eat we discuss some artistic stuff and we do not see eye-to-eye on one particular matter. We are both passionate and very opinionated but we both need to be convinced we are wrong, once we are, none of has have a problem accepting the other is right. In fact… we finally find a balance and agree. During this little exciting conversation, my knife slides off the plate and hits the floor. Just as I bend down to get it and put it away, Nurse Forno is beside the table with a new set of cutlery. I am impressed. I don’t get this in a five-star luxury restaurant. Well done Nurse Forno!
We discuss Ray’s alter ego – Jozette. I wonder who he would cast in her role if Jozette was not around. Who could play her really well?
“Grace Borg,” he offers, biting into his Vecchio Forno pizza. {Giggles}
He is quick and witty with his answers, so I decide to ask him a real hard one which might not leave him with a way out. “Which local actor really sucks?” My lips spread into a mischievous smile.
This time it takes him some time to think, and then he comes back strong – And I quote: “Ray Calleja… Anytime he feels like!”
I quickly inspect the toilets, passing the Gimme Gimme medicine students on my way. Once again, I am surprised. Their toilet is spacious, neat, and damn, there is nothing I can fault it with. It is nothing out of an Elle décor magazine of course, but I like it never the less. I have to be honest and say that I never thought I would use the full of my seven stars for this place but I was so pleasantly surprised by so many things it would be totally unfair not to. The food rocks, Dr Forno and Nurse Forno provide excellent service, and yeah, the music is just perfect (until that little Laura Pausini moment which they should delete from the CD). We pay a total of €37.30 for ravioli, broccoli soup, wine, water, and two pizzas. I think the prices are relatively reasonable for the tasty dishes you get.
We elect to leave, and as we do, two young men walk inside and zoom in for our table. It is not after midnight yet, but I think… the Gimme Gimme medicine students might have a fight over them!
RATING: 1 - 7
Wine - *****
Ambience ****
Food - *******
Service *******