New-era Italian foodstore-eatery set to delight Gladesville

Gladesville will fire the first salvo for the next generation Italian foodstore-restaurants set to sweep Sydney.

Mercato e Cucina finally opens at the end of the month at 297 Victoria Road, six months behind schedule but pipping Italian megastore Eataly, which has been scouting sites in Sydney. The sector is only going to get hotter, with Alexandria's Salts Meats Cheese also believed to be closing in on a second location, near Circular Quay.

Good Food had a sneak peek at Mercato and locals have every reason to be excited. Ostrich-covered bench seats and a copper-tiled wood-fire oven are just the icing: Mercato includes a butcher, deli, grocer, bakery, 400-bottle wine cellar and a casual Italian restaurant. Co-owner Vanessa Martin, who earned her stripes at Rozelle's Il Piave, says the 30-plus staff includes four butchers.

Martin isn't brazenly copying Eataly, which has become a buzz-word in Sydney food circles over the past 12 months. Mercato takes its cues from a number of venues, including US retailers Dean & DeLuca and Whole Foods Market.

"We aren't just buying in product, I'm making as much as I can. I'll be doing my own marmalade, even take-home meals,'' Martin says.