Da Noi

Pietro Porcu learned to cook by watching his mother. For this, Melburnians must thank her; for the honesty of his Sardinian cookery and for his restaurant’s sensual shared pleasures. Da Noi (‘from us’) is a sensibility – a regional Italian way of life – shoehorned into an intimate upstairs/downstairs Victorian terrace that for its cognoscenti is all at once nostalgic, bohemian, and wonderfully civilised. Few ever see the menu. It’s a journey reliant on trust – falling into the chef’s arms and his fixed-price, four-course nightly caprices that begin, say, with antipasti including kingfish carpaccio on a revelatory cucumber puree, a dish of sublime grilled cuttlefish, and delightful veal micro-meatballs among choice cured meats. Pasta could be spaghetti, ravioli, or maybe there’ll be gloriously creamy saffron risotto with pork sausage. Hope for roast duck breast on carrot puree with polenta and wilted silverbeet for the meat serving, and green-apple sorbet among the dolce. A much-loved room of simple beauty in the big city.

And ... Few diners ask for the carte – most choose the fixed-price offering, $55 at lunch, $85 at dinner.

THE LOW-DOWN
Vibe Urbane osteria of our dreams.
Best bit When the chef’s menu sings, think Pavarotti.
Worst bit Steep stairs if you’re eating up.