Where: 14 Pacific Street, Newcastle East

Prices: Spuntini (small dishes), $3 to $15; salumi (cured fish and meat), $17; formaggi (cheese), $12; insalata (salad), $12; primi (starters), $20; piatti principali (mains), $25 to $27; dolci (desserts), $6 to $12

Chef: Richard Latham

Wines: Blackboard list of Italian, Spanish, French, Australian and NZ wines, by the bottle or glass

Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am to 8pm; Friday and Saturday 10am to 10pm

Extras: Contorni (sides), $7 and $8; chocolate truffles, $2 each

Vegetarian: Three to four spuntini; two cheese plates, one salad, one risotto

Bookings: 4925 2244

Bottom line: About $100 for two without wine

Enoteca; don't be put off by the literal translation wine library, but more usually wine bar as no Italian would think of drinking wine without some very good food.

The menu offers a good selection of spuntini, small dishes to share, with a glass of wine from the blackboard list of Italian, Spanish, French and southern hemisphere wines.

Hooray for the chef who takes into account the number of folks dining and portions the spuntini accordingly. Arancini ($8) come as four golden balls, the crisp exterior hiding a creamy mixture of risotto, lemon zest, pine nuts and mozzarella and more than enough aioli and chutney for dipping.

A small dish of local black and green olives ($4) is marinated in a feisty blend of herbs, garlic, fennel, lemon and blood orange but doesn't go far when shared between four.

Gamberetti ($15) recalls paper bags full of tiny, salty, crunchy eat-them-whole prawns sold as street snacks in Spain and Sicily. These prawns are no less crunchy and are still meant to be eaten whole but may be a challenge for some. Just close your eyes. The lime aioli and lime wedge helps.

A bit of an argument threatens over the warm asparagus, pancetta, truffled poached egg and peppercress salad ($17) it's a bit hard to divide a poached egg into four so two servings are the go. The egg is as far removed from a battery hen as you can get and the asparagus has been picked within a 30-kilometre radius. The pancetta may have come further but the dish would be poorer without it.

The rag pasta, with slow-cooked chicken, caramelised pumpkin and baby spinach ($20), is house-made, fine and silky. The chicken pieces tossed through are tender and the wilted spinach is bright green.

Pan-roasted snapper ($25) is the perfect spring dish. The crisp skin tops a flaky white fillet sitting in a pool of creamy sauce flecked with bright green peas, lightly caramelised baby onion wedges, wilted rocket and a hint of mint.

Zuppa di pesce ($27) is a must-have. This Ligurian fish stew's saffron-rich broth is chock-a-block with mussels, prawns, scallops and that perfect accompaniment to seafood, fennel.

The third main, chargrilled veal rib eye ($27), is a pinkly tender cutlet, topped with chianti butter and comes with a dish of smashed potatoes, brown tinged, crunchy and flavoured with garlic and rosemary.

Dolci are made in-house and constantly changing. Today, blood oranges rule and the tart ($6) is a tour de force fine, crisp pastry and creamy filling just tinged pink from the juice of fruit spilling out of a basket on the side board.

The vanilla bean-flecked panna cotta ($12) is stunning with a textbook-perfect wobble. A tiny Frangelico syrup-poached Corella pear is the perfect accompaniment.

You don't need to drink wine in this wine bar. The food is more than enough reason to go.