Icebergs spin-off tips Bondi as Sydney's new Little Italy

Step aside Leichhardt, Bondi Beach is making a serious play for the title of Sydney's Little Italy.

As revealed in Short Black (12/2), Icebergs Dining Room and Bar owner Maurice Terzini is poised to open a casual Italian spin-off in the beachside suburb, the location of the venue confirmed as the new multistorey development Boheme, on the former site of the Hakoah Club in Hall Street. A Tavola and Gelato Messina, which are opening outposts in The Hub, will also add an Italian flavour.

Terzini is downplaying talk that the yet-to-be-named restaurant, which opens later in 2013, is a shot at former business partner Rob Marchetti, who kept North Bondi Italian Food as the spoils in his split with Terzini.

''They are different products, we'll be heavily pizza-based,'' Terzini says. ''A wood-fire oven is central to what we'll do across the menu. I'd like to do porchetta over coals, lamb skewers, everything under $25-$30. [Former Popolo chef] Orazio D'Elia and key Icebergs management will be involved.''

The veteran restaurateur wants to recapture some of the essence of his early ventures, such as Melbourne's influential Caffe e Cucina.

''I'd love [the ordering] to be verbal, I don't want dockets,'' he says.

The 60-seat restaurant will front O'Brien Street, already home to The Italian eatery, and just a short stroll from Pompei's and La Macelleria.

''There's a lot of Italian in Bondi,'' Terzini agrees.

Diners do not live on antipasti alone, so it is good news to hear rumblings the owners of China Lane in the city are also in talks to open at Boheme.