The Italian on the Wharf

There's something about getting the DLR into Docklands that makes you feel as though you're entering another realm. Everything's so new, so shiny, so New York, so businesslike and at the same time so space-age sparkly. With the early twinkling lights coming on at dusk, whirling into Canary Wharf on a Friday evening as the city hangs up its work coat and starts to unwind, sends a tingling sensation of excitement down the spine.

Down the escalators into the island's own Grand Central Station and across the fountain-filled plaza to the Four Seasons hotel we headed, looking to find Quadrato.

The restaurant - a room of dark wood and plum furnishings - is lit on nearly all sides by large windows where diners can soak up either the hotel's garden, or the Thames alongside an empty street.

At the hub of the room lives a large spot-lit kitchen where the sound of clashing pans is held back by a glass screen, but the chefs can still be seen bustling away. Before that, stands executive chef Sebastiano Spriveri, and before him, his selection of choice cheeses, meats, olives, artichokes, salads and truffles.

As we sipped our Amore Primaveras (peachy Bacardi summer cocktails) we noticed Quadrato has a new offer in the summer where the diners can choose from the buffet and thought we'd give it a whirl for the starter. Who could turn their nose up at fresh mozzarella flown in from Italy that morning?

I'm a cheese girl, so I enjoyed taking my selection of a fine range of Italian cheeses while my carnivorous date plumped for as many red meats as possible.

We tucked into these hearty smoky flavours with a crisp Orvieto Classico Abboccato and allowed ourselves to take our time, this was to be a dinner enjoyed at a relaxed pace.

Next up the mains. Our impeccably polite server for the evening recommended suitable wines to accompany the courses, which were good enough for us to ask for a copy of the wine list to take away.

With the evening moving into full swing I tucked into herb roasted pigeon, foie gras raviolo, baby onions and chaterelle mushrooms with moscato wine sauce. That sounds tasty enough to describe itself but let me add that the meat was tender with a crispy finish, the foie gras raviolo naughtily rich and the onions crunchy and good. Amarone Classico was the wine of choice and its deep flavours worked well the food.

The carnivorous one decided to test the fruits of the ocean and tucked into homemade spaghetti with Canadian Lobster, which he described between mouthfuls as "bloody delicious, really generous with the lobster."