42 Bannerman Trattoria & Bar

I've never been fond of breadsticks - hard, crunchy, flavourless things. So when three complimentary grissini arrive at our table I'm not thrilled. Then I try one.

It's marvellous. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, freshly baked, rolled in sesame seeds and sea salt. The bread rolls are good, too, with chewy crust and firm crumb but not too dense. It's all made in-house, at 42 Bannerman Trattoria and Bar.

"In-house" is an appropriate term. The building used to be a private home and still looks like it, complete with double garage and rockery front garden. Presumably the large carpark out front was added when 42 Bannerman opened four years ago.

Hosts of this trattoria deep in rural suburbia are the Mammoliti family. Matriarch Pina runs front-of-house, with husband Michael as support. Son Sam is the chef and behind the bar is youngest son, Robert.

There's an atmosphere of barely controlled chaos when we arrive. Our table isn't quite ready and when we are seated, it's next to a thin partition wall. Behind it is a large wedding party that likes to dance to loud music, thankfully intermittent.

We are told this kind of big function is unusual here and the evening is saved by the warmth and enthusiasm of our hosts and the food they bring us.

After cooking at a pub restaurant in Summer Hill, Sam decided to look for his own place. He wanted the kind of casual Italian trattoria with no menu that serves whatever is fresh on the day.

So the only printed menu at 42 Bannerman is the wine list. A hand-written board lists the food: an antipasto plate, four pastas and five mains. This choice is for diners who find it hard to relinquish control.

The speciality here is the Italian Table set menu, chosen by the chef. For three people or more, $59 buys an antipasto platter, a pasta dish and two mains, with servings designed to share around the table.

Some people don't get it, Pina says. We love not having to make any decisions and the element of surprise. It's like going to a friend's place for dinner.

The antipasto plate has a few familiar items - olives, focaccia, salami - but even these stand out. The olives are marinated here, the focaccia is deliciously fresh, warm and bouncy, the spicy salami house-cured. Less familiar are the panelle (Sicilian chickpea fritters), potato rosti topped with goat's cheese and a simple canellini bean salad. It's not glamorous food but it's interesting and enticing and homely.

Tagliatelle pepperonata comes in a large bowl - silky house-made pasta with a simple sauce of capsicum, eggplant and tomato with pecorino. For main course, pork medallions sit on nicely cooked cavalo nero with a sweetish sherry sauce. But the standout is the barramundi: meltingly tender, with not a trace of the muddy flavour that can haunt this fish.

The pistachio and anchovy crumbs on top enhance rather than overwhelm the delicate fish flavour, and though it's a surprise to find the potato and zucchini flower salad on the side is cold, it adds another enjoyable element to the meal.

As we tuck into profiteroles with cream and warm chocolate, the wedding party is taking a break from the dance floor for speeches. By now, we don't mind what they do.

At this little piece of Italy on Sydney's outskirts, we feel welcomed and well-fed.