'Fine-diner' Peca opens in Gregory Hills

The south-west Sydney suburb of Gregory Hills has a listed population of 4985 people. It also has only a handful of restaurants, which makes it an unusual poster child for Sydney's food revolution.

But with development in the area on the rise and the number of new residents escalating, it has become the front line of Sydney's restaurant push.

"There are 12 kindergarten classes at the school, the area is full of young people. We felt it was an area ready for something like this," says Carmelina Catanzariti, general manager at Gregory Hill's new Peca restaurant.

"We didn't call it fine dining, but some people around here call it that," she says.

With an outlier $108 dish on the menu and a slick modern interior, you can understand why.

Catanzariti has been along for much of the ride as Sydney western restaurateur Antonio Tarzia has segued from fondue caterer to rustic restaurant owner and cheesesteak food truck operator before ushering in 2019 with the opening of Peca.

The menu includes a Western Australian scampi with confit garlic and smoked rosemary butter ($32), black ink pasta with peas and goat's curd ($32) and a one-kilogram, 60-day dry-aged bistecca ($108).

If the clean interior and crisp purple velvet curtains have captured the attention of Gregory Hills locals and the nearby Camden market, Catanzariti believes the suburbs of Sydney are fields of opportunity.

Open Tue-Fri & Sun lunch and dinner; Sat dinner.

Peca, 7 Gregory Hills Drive, Gregory Hills, 02 4622 0812, pecarestaurant.com.au