I have fond memories of travelling throughout Italy with one of my best friends Anna. I loved that when walking through the streets of Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples...I could hear the buskers stringing their guitars, singing some Italian ballad (even if it was just to make money off the tourists).

As a backpacker eating out in a nice restaurant was totally out of the question...and well as much as a I love Anna she would not have been my ideal Italian date (dark, handsome Italian male stranger would have been more my ideal...but considering I was wearing the same clothes I had worn well most days, and that I had previously been left somewhere in France by a guy who I thought could have been more than a friend but turned out there had been zero spark and zero practicality seeing he ate too much and had no money and thus we fought non-stop until he left and I got a train to Paris where I instantly realised that being an attractive single female traveller did have its benefits...where was I?...oh yes, given all that...I was actually relieved to meet with my best friend and have quality girl time so an Italian stranger was not altogether on the agenda) - but if I WERE to have eaten out somewhere in Italy...Beppi's would have been exactly the type of place I would have both imagined and wanted.

The words "quaint", "traditional" and "quality" spring to mind after eating at Beppi's Restaurant in East Sydney, but they by no means do the place justice.

I am a great fan of oysters - as a kid I used to use my dad's knife to cut them off from the rocks at sea and eat them straight from their shell - but I am amazed at how wrong some restaurants get them. Beppi's however, made no mistake in valuing a good oyster...they were perfect. No moments of slimy uncertainty, no watery puddles and no sticking to the shell...they smoothly slid down your throat and had the most amazing tingle to them so that you really understood what the word "aphrodisiac" meant.

We followed the oysters with a mixed seafood antipasto plate which was a sample of all their seafood entrees...again perfect. Each portion was so unique and bold in flavour that I could almost imagine the chef spending hours just on each individual piece (and there were about 10!). Although I begged for more, when my main came I crumbled. There is veal and then there is VEAL...this was VEAL...I thought "melted in my mouth" was just an expression until I experienced this meal. Slightly crisped on the edges and tender on the inside, this chef knew how to handle a piece of meat.

But apart from the incredibly tasty yet simple food there was more to Beppi's than just a good meal.

There was art.

Beppi's made you feel like you were in Italy, on that imaginary Italian stranger date. It didn't have any annoying grandeur or a cold interior - in fact the restaurant itself was established in 1956 and the dŽcor hasn't changed much since...but it was charming and made you feel romantic. The creaky wooden floorboards gave it a rustic and homely feel while the clean simplicity made you want to just sit, eat and drink the night away.

But to tell the truth, what really made the experience special was the staff. Just like the veal, there are waiters and then there are WAITERS. So rarely in Australia do we see waiters (or do we now call them sommeliers?) that have both pride and passion in their work. These waiters were no pimple faced university students trying to get a bit of extra cash, these waiters were grown men, adorned in the traditional white shirt and black tie, that took their work very seriously. These guys could not only carry away plates with speed and efficiency...they could personify grace. They were doing this job because they were good at it and because they loved it - they were artists in themselves.

Go to Beppi's....if not to relive that romantic Italian dinner you never had...then to just relish in what is...a perfectly beautiful place to dine.