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Provini opens in Canberra

Natasha Rudra

Pizza chef Giovanni Auzino at Provini restaurant, which has opened in Civic.
Pizza chef Giovanni Auzino at Provini restaurant, which has opened in Civic.Melissa Adams

Provini has opened its doors in Civic. As we mentioned in our sneak preview, the restaurant is deliberately retro kitsch, with lace curtains on the windows, a terrace with wrought-iron railings and a cheerfully hideous 1950s floral carpet. It’s all about harking back to Nonna’s house, where cross-stitch pictures are framed on the wall and you’re urged to eat up.

The menu is home-style pizzas, pastas and desserts. Entrees include fried gorgonzola with roast pumpkin, antipasto, a cold marinated octopus and potato salad, and steamed pippies in Aqua Pazza.

The wood-fired pizza list is simple – prosciutto, rocket and fior di latte, or a four-cheese pizza with asiago and gorgonzola. Highlights among the mains are the bright red beetroot risotto with dabs of three-milk cheese and a 600g dry aged rib eye to share among two people.

The decor is deliberately kitsch.
The decor is deliberately kitsch.Melissa Adams
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Desserts are similarly homely – tiramisu, a panna cotta with amaretto, cassata with pistachios.

Peter Bell is sommelier and brings his sure touch to the wine list. But the house red and white have got plenty of pedigree – they’re made with Eden Road.

Provini is in Garema Place, next door to Shorty’s. Lunch Sunday-Friday; dinner seven days. 6154 9720.

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Default avatarNatasha Rudra is an online editor at The Australian Financial Review based in London. She was the life and entertainment editor at The Canberra Times.

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