Before Christmas I was singing the praises of Dunne and Crescenzi, now a chain of coffee bars that serve good Italian food. I wondered too, whether the time had finally come when Irish diners were sufficiently discerning that they would enjoy Italian food as it should be prepared. This week that thought came to mind again as I set off into deepest Wicklow in search of another Italian meal.

I've lived alongside the Avonmore River since 1978, I've seen it as a trickle in the few very hot summers since then, I've seen it in full spate and I've watched it come through my kitchen door on two occasions. At this time of year I pay attention to it - after heavy rain I'm down at its banks, checking levels, mentally preparing myself for the worst that nature can throw at me. But the river isn't just a threat, it's a source of pleasure too. I swim in it, I fish in it, and a couple of times I've floated down it in a kayak. I mention this, because if I were ever to do that again, I would eventually arrive in Woodenbridge - which is where I went for my review dinner.

It wasn't the happiest day of my life, my dog had died of venerable old age that morning. My son arrived from Dublin so that we could dig a grave for him and have a moment after his burial to mark his gentlemanly life. We buried him in the bottom field, where he used to chase rabbits. So my son and I set off for Woodenbridge, not as cheerfully as we might have done, to find 'Il Ruscello'. I knew a bit about it already: I knew that it was new, that it was a part of the Woodenbridge Hotel, that a husband and wife team from Verona were running it.

We found it on the other side of the road from the Woodenbridge Hotel and a little downstream. There's a large car park and then the road leads downhill to a new building that has forty bedrooms and is used as the hotel overflow. 'Il Ruscello' - which means 'the stream' in Italian, is in this smart new building and the dining room overlooks the Aughrim River. It's all very new and shiny and the room has been finished rather nicely. Good linen on the tables, comfortable chairs, good heavy cutlery and long-stemmed wine glasses greet you as you sit down, careful lighting and fresh flowers complete the effect.

The menu is one those that when you read it you think 'if these dishes come close to their descriptions, I'll be happy.' What was listed were proper Italian dishes, not the usual ersatz imports. I looked down the starters, which were all p
priced around €10, and could have easily picked three or four - I was tempted by the mozzarella in carozza, a simple but tasty dish; I could have picked the sformato (a kind of soufflé), I would have been happy with the carpaccio served with Parmesan and celery, but eventually I chose the marinated swordfish. Rocco had been going through the same agonies of indecision as me, but in the end he settled on the veal meat balls, which were served on a potato nest with a fontina cheese fondue.

There were four pasta dishes available, including home-made ravioli and a sea food crepe parcel, but neither Rocco nor I could have done the proper Italian thing and fitted a pasta dish between our starters and main courses, so we went straight to the mains, which listed th
hree meat dishes and three fish, all priced between €22 and €25. I was happy to continue with fish, in this case a Venetian fish chowder, and Rocco decided to try the Guinea fowl, which came with braised red cabbage and ceps.

It's always hard to find a wine when I'm with Rocco as he doesn't drink it, so basically I'm limited to whatever is listed in half-bottles. The wine list in 'Il Ruscello' isn't long, just a page each for red wines and white wines, but it is entirely Italian and to be specific, almost entirely from Italy's north-east, which is where the Italian couple who run the restaurant come from. I'm a firm believer that the best wine to accompany a regional dish is a wine from the same region, since both the food and the wine tend to have evolved
symbiotically. From the half bottles I picked a Chardonnay from Trentino, which was listed at €15.

Our starters were very prettily presented and served with white gloves, a nice touch. Rocco's meat balls were delicate and carefully flavoured, while my marinated swordfish was done like a ceviche and was very good. The twist was the accompaniment of garlic pureed with honey, a new taste to me, but very successful with this dish. The main courses were just as competent, Rocco's Guinea fowl was very good as was my Venetian fish chowder. What was unusual in all of the dishes that we ate was there was little salt used in its preparation. If you cook with little salt then you have to be careful with your flavourings, since these become the dominant flavours. Overall I was impressed with the cooking because it was so precise, as well as being entirely faithful to its regional roots.

We finished our meal with a couple of good espressos and mused on the changes in the Wicklow Hills over the past three decades. I'm delighted that there's a real Italian restaurant within forty minutes of my house, and I hope that there's enough people now who can appreciate its appeal.