Mantecato risotto restaurant to open in Balmain

Timing is key in the kitchen, and just as important with a restaurant launch. The current cold snap is perfect timing for the opening of a risotto specialist restaurant in Balmain this week.

''We feel Italian restaurants all do the same thing, so we wanted to do something different,'' says co-owner Ketty Laffi, who also operates nearby pizzeria Rosso Pomodoro.

Additional partners have been taken on, twins Paolo and Marco Orso, rebooting Quattro Paste restaurant in Reynolds Street as Mantecato, Risotteria Italiana.

''Mantecato is the name given to the final, vigorous whisking in of butter, an essential technique in making risotto,'' Laffi says.

Beetroot and cheese, and saffron and braised ossobuco risotto are on the opening menu.