It’s the best when you discover a little gem of a place, especially when it’s tucked behind the stairs of a small shopping centre looking over a car park.

I was on the way to pick up a dose of probiotics at the chemist (with all this eating and judging for the Eat Out DStv Food Network Restaurant Awards, I need plenty of them) when I bumped into Elana, owner of Bukhara and Haiku restaurants.

She and her three girls were munching cannoli at this little cute shop called Dolcissima in the Palmhof Centre just up Kloof Street in Cape Town. After we quickly caught up, Elana twisted my arm – not too much – and insisted I try one of the Sicilian specialities.

I last had one of these sweet delights made by an Italian nona in Bez Valley in Johannesburg years ago. They were perfect: crispy fried pastry shells filled with ricotta, chopped dark chocolate and preserved orange rind. Dolcissima also makes another delicacy from Sicily called arancini, a traditional risotto rice ball stuffed with ragu and then crumbed and fried.

I am not really a fan of ricotta, except for Wayne Rademeyer’s, which is creamy and has a lovely milky taste, but the Puglia brand used here is really light.

After talking about all things food with Elana, I was craving a curry, but I decided that a probiotic was probably a wiser option.

Congratulations to all the restaurants who made this year’s list of 20 nominees, which we announced yesterday to much fanfare and excitement. Good luck for the 10th November!

Cheers!

Abigail

Photographs: Alexis Fam