AFTER a long absence, Italian fine-dining is back.

Not since the Grand Italia restaurant in the ertswhile Glass Hotel (now the Holiday Inn Atrium) closed in the early 1990s had an Italian restaurant here labelled itself as fine-dining.

Restaurants like Garibaldi and Zambuca have elements of fineness but even these do not pretend to be anything more than smart restaurants.

Well, now we have La Strada.

It replaces Canteen restaurant in Shaw Centre, which had been suffering due to a confusing pricey menu that was not at all canteen-like.

The Les Amis Group closed that last month. Last week, it opened La Strada - and this time, it is unequivocally upmarket. From the simple but tasteful design to the well-trained staff working under Les Amis veteran Aby Tan, who rose from being a sommelier to restaurant manager, everything exudes a sense of quiet distinction.

The cooking is equally refined. With the kitchen helmed by Leandro Panza, a new recruit from Australia who has worked at Melbourne's Caffe e Cuccina as well as London's Zafferano, the food is presented with a finesse that one associates more with classic French cooking than the more relaxed Italian fare we are used to here.

My beef carpaccio ($22), for example, came as four rolled-up cylinders of raw beef in ascending heights. Each cylinder was filled with a celeriac remoulade and topped with a shaving of truffle and parmesan cheese.

Not only was it pleasing to the eye, but the combination of beef, cheese and truffle was also ambrosiac.

Then take the broccoli raviolo ($20). The single overgrown stuffed pasta dominated the plate while beside it was a stalk of battered and deep-fried broccoli, tempura-style, plus a little mound of goat cheese foam.

It was art on a plate.

I wouldn't say it was the best Italian food in town but everything I ate was certainly well put-together.

My main course of basil and pine nut-crusted spring lamb rack ($44) was a trifle too cooked for my taste, but nevertheless remained tender to the bite.

Paired with an eggplant cannelloni and marinated grilled bell peppers with lots of basil, it was an easy dish to be content with.

And if you like variety in your food, the duck trio ($38) would give you that. Comprising braised duck lasagna, a confit leg and poached breast salad, it offered three different ways of cooking the fowl.

The lasagna was a nice departure from the classic beef version and my favourite, while the salad provided reprieve from the meat.

The confit was my least favoured for being rather monotonous in texture and flavour.

I tried two desserts and was charmed by both.

The tiramisu ($17) was unlike any I have seen before, with the mascarpone cheese folded inside a crispy chocolate cylinder. But it tasted light and fluffy.

Unless you are in a hurry, spare the 10 minutes required to wait for the pear and almond tart with prune and grappa ice cream ($17).

Brought to the table fresh from the oven with the pastry crisp and the slices of pear lightly cooked, it was sublime.

With its high prices, La Strada is not going to be anyone's daily canteen unless he happens to be very rich. But then, neither does it pretend to be one.

LA STRADA
1 Scotts Road
Shaw Centre #02-10
(S) 228208
Tel: 6737-2622

Opening hours: Noon to 2pm, 7 to 9.30pm. Closed on Mondays

Food: ****

Service: ****

Ambience: *** 1/2

Price: Budget $80 to $90 per person, without wine