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Osteria La Passione

Osteria La Passione Article Lead - narrow
Osteria La Passione Article Lead - narrowSupplied

14/20

Italian$$$

Owner and chef Carmine Costantini really makes customers feel like guests. He glides between tables greeting diners at his humble osteria, which is homely yet handsome, with touches like white linen tablecloths and low lighting. But he's also working hard behind the scenes. Many of the ingredients for his good, simple food began life at his farm in Yea, from the olive oil to the salumi and even the house shiraz. There's no menu, just sit back and let capable staff deliver the day's set six courses. Dinner could start with crisp baccala fritters, followed by sweet-and-sour peperonata and house-made bread. A wintry zampone (sausage-stuffed pig's trotter) with lentils and a sweet drizzle of vincotto may follow. Next, pumpkin gnocchi with earthy pine mushrooms. The main may be meltingly tender roast pork neck with celeriac mash, while dessert is usually a classic, perhaps vanilla panna cotta with the perfect wobble. Here, tonight, you could believe you were in Emilia-Romagna.

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