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Italian & Sons

Italian & Sons
Italian & SonsSupplied

Good Food hat15/20

Italian$$$

Lonsdale Street outside is no Calabrian piazza. But within its compact walls, Italian & Sons has a bouncy sense of enjoyment that's unmistakably Italian-Australian, hype and stereotype and all. Stacked with wine boxes and with a wall full of scrawled messages and words of wisdom (bring your Italian dictionary), it's full of practised waiters, excited groups, a wood-fired oven and a Berkel slicer working overtime. That's the clue. order affettati to start, from sweet young pancetta with its milky, lardy frill to spiced-up 'nduja (salami paste) and sliced cacciatore. Mandatory on the side is a hunk of wood-fired focaccia, with a slug of EVOO. Sarde in saor (sweet-and-sour sardines) has currant tang, with fried onion, pine nuts and a citrus lilt. Gnocchi with smoked salted ricotta, eggplant and tomato was a touch dense, but good; and baked suckling lamb 'stracotto' is dreamy with pecorino, peas and potatoes - as is baked panettone pudding with amarena cherries and a whisked zabaglione.

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