Move over pizza, hello frico, a wood-fired circle of melted cheese and potato

The brilliant pink neon Agostinis sign glows out into the night as you approach the East Hotel's new hot spot, and gives a hint of its classy but accessible nature.

A month into its tenure at the glamorous hotel occupying the spot that used to house the much known and loved Easts Rugby Club, Agostinis is packing them in for good reason.

The East Hotel along with Hotel Hotel and QT in New Acton, have left behind the sad, stale days of the hotel diner no-one really wanted to eat in. There is not a club sandwich or chicken fillet with avocado in sight here. Rather, East has the cool Joe's Bar as well as Muse – a terrific bookshop/eatery – and Agostinis, a big, bustling, shiny Italian joint.

The welcome is warm as we escape the chill on a recent weekend night and squeeze into a spot at the bar, in the booked-solid establishment.

House-made chips with little spray bottles of vinegar, platters groaning with quality small goods, and metre-long pizza are soon pouring out of the kitchen, and we make our selections perched in our perfect viewing spot.

Watching the action in a well functioning kitchen can be utterly consuming, and this place understands the attraction. A long bar and well-positioned picture window overlook the huge pizza oven, entree and dessert stations, and it is a joy to see much made from scratch.

We kick off with a fantastic treat called frico ($10) – wafer thin slices of potato and Montasio cheese, baked to a plate-filling crisp in the pizza oven. This is exactly what you come to this sort of place for – a simple shared treat, chewy and delcious. On another occasion we will take a pizza, simply topped with high quality ingredients, and a decent size for the money. Metre-long specimens grace the centre of many tables.

Lightly dusted calamari ($15) comes next, and is both tender and crisp, and served with tartare. A good dish, this doesn't quite scale the heights I know it can.

A good range of Italian and local wines are available by the glass, and specially chosen Italian wines are available by the quarter-, half- or full-litre. A classic Negroni is great with a splash of prosecco, paired with the cheesy a frico.

Spaghetti marinara ($28), tonnarelli alla bottarga ($25) and a grilled radicchio salad ($13) come next and make a magnificent shared main. The house-made spaghetti is tender, but still with the required bite, and fully imbued with the wonderful salty-sweet flavour of spanking fresh seafood. This is what spaghetti marinara should take be, a tangle of pasta, swimming with seafood, tasting of the sun and sea.

Tonnarelli pasta is similarly tender, and the singular, salty goodness of dried fish roe, quality oil, chilli and parsley combine with aplomb in this Sicilian dish.

The grilled radicchio salad ($13) will not be to everyone's taste, but try it, to understand the great strength of Italian cooking – simplicity, contrast and balance. Charred wedges of bitter radicchio are cloaked in sweet tender speck, and the combination is a magnificent marriage of texture and flavour, perfect with the pasta.

Tiramisu ($12) is freshly constructed, and pleasant, but lacking in coffee and liquor kick.

Behind us a family matriarch's birthday is being toasted, kids are grinning wildly as clouds of fairy floss arrive atop desserts. The place is well into its second seating as we spill out into the night, replete.