Sydney set for a summer of spaghetti

Sydney is set for a summer of spaghetti thanks to a burst of Italian restaurants opening in the past six weeks, with more meatballs on the horizon. From glitzy Matteo Downtown in the CBD, to Paddington pop-up Don Peppino’s, these restaurants represent a new-wave of Italian restaurants reinventing classic dishes from The Boot. There’s no rules for the Sydney Italian eatery of 2018.

“Everyone loves Italian food,” Herald chief food critic Terry Durack says. “Everyone. After the apocalypse, the last Sydney diner will be left standing with an espresso in one hand and a Deliveroo pack of lasagne in the other.

“Opening an Italian joint is a no-brainer because we all love the food and feel comfortable in that space – even when the traditions are being stretched, like pizza dough, for a Millennial market.”

At Bella Brutta pizzeria, which opened on Newtown’s King Street in October, former Tetsuya’s head chef Luke Powell is remixing the pizza traditions of Rome, Naples and wherever takes his fancy. Toppings include clams, cavolo nero and mortadella made by Powell at his Chippendale restaurant, LP’s Quality Meats.

Meanwhile at The Lansdowne Hotel on Broadway, the team behind Mary’s burgers has just launched a pizzeria featuring New York-style pizza pies laden with red sauce and hunky sausage.

“We love the idea of creating havoc with people’s expectations, so we set about it with a new pizzeria,” Mary’s co-owner Jake Smyth says.

“A romantic candlelit corner in a punk-rock pub? There aren’t a lot of cuisines that can handle themselves with that brief. The candles are long-stemmed and the service is engaging, but the ambience is interrupted by punk music and schooner-skolling students next door.”

It’s not all crust and cheese, however. Restaurant collective Full Circle – co-owned by hospitality young-guns Daniel Johnston, Harry Levy and Tom Merryweather – opened Don Peppinos "good time Italian restaurant" last week in a former Oxford Street nightclub. The 12-month-long pop-up features a neon-lit staircase, DJ booth, slow-cooked ragu and lemon sorbet served in an actual lemon.

When Full Circle group opened its Alfio’s pop-up in a run-down Leichhardt trattoria in 2014, it was the hottest ticket in the inner west since The Rolling Stones played the Enmore. It will likely be just as difficult to snare a weekend table at Don Peppinos as Alfio's, at least until the CBD talent behind Restaurant Hubert opens Alberto in Surry Hills and relieve some pasta pressure.

Before taking over the pans at Hubert, chef Daniel Pepperell reinterpreted Italian cooking at Paddington’s 10 William Street and when Alberto cuts ribbon at the former Berta site in late November, rumour has it the menu will feature tandoori lasagne.

Sydney’s Italian dining scene has progressed a long way past the bolognese and chequered tablecloths of Leichhardt’s 'Little Italy' in its heyday.

“In Sydney, Italian food used to be in a Leichhardt ghetto, with only small pockets elsewhere, like Beppi’s in Darlinghurst and the Percuoco family’s Pulcinella in Kings Cross, which wouldn’t open on Saturday night for fear of the spag bol crowd,” Durack says.

“There was also Lucio’s and Darcy’s in Paddington, among others. Then along came David Cowdrill and Valdis Gravelis and their terrazzo-tiled Mario’s in Darlinghurst. It introduced cool Italian to a whole new generation in the 1980s and '90s.”

Orazio d'Elia, co-owner of Matteo Double Bay and the newly opened Matteo Downtown in the CBD, has been cooking Italian food in Sydney since 2005. He says Sydney’s Italian food has become healthier in the time he has been cooking.

“People are more worried about fat and carbohydrates than they used to be and I’ve changed my dishes so they’re lighter," he says. "Food doesn’t just have to taste delicious today – you also need to feel good tomorrow.”

The Naples-born chef believes people should still eat pasta often, but go easy on the sauces. “I ate pasta every day in Italy and grew up all right,” he says. “One day you can have pasta with zucchini, and the next day it’s pasta and fish. Ragu is only for once a week, when it has been cooking for 10 hours and makes your cholesterol go ballistic.”

Durack doesn’t see Italian comfort food going anywhere for some time. “I think the real answer to the rinascimento of Italian food is the state of the world,” he says. “When you are depressed, angry, bewildered and sickened by the rise of ‘friendly fascism’, what is going to make you feel better? Noise, conviviality, a negroni, linguine, meatballs, tiramisu and a bucketful of barbera."

Five new Italian restaurants to try

Don Peppino’s

1 Oxford Street, Paddington, 02 9326 9302

The latest semi-permanent house of pasta from the pop-up masters behind Wilmer and Alfio’s. Expect natural wines, neon lights and food cooked with heartfelt integrity. Expect garlic bread buttered to new levels of butteriness. Expect a slice of watermelon served with the bill.

Bonnie’s Wine and Food

150 Curlewis Street, Bondi Beach, 02 8090 6972

“When Maurice Terzini established Otto in Woolloomooloo in 2000, and Icebergs in 2002, Italian food was taken up to the high end with a lot of style and pride,” Terry Durack says. Terzini is still a master of style and his new venue, semi-hidden inside Bondi Beach Public Bar, features Italian small plates, a focus on sustainable Australian wine and a $6 serve of Neapolitan ice-cream where no child is leaving the vanilla untouched.

Matteo Downtown

20 Bond Street, Sydney, 02 9241 2008

Italians know how to do breakfast and chef Orazio d’Elia’s cacio e pepe scrambled eggs rich with pecorino and smoked pancetta are a brilliant way to start the day in any universe. Come for the eggs, stay for a lunchtime negroni and linguine vongole.

Bistecca

3 Dalley Street, Sydney, 02 8067 0450

Certainly, there’s restaurants better suited to vegetarians than this handsome new eatery down a CBD backstreet. The only main course here is bistecca alla fiorentina (alla Sydney) – that is, a big meaty T-bone of grain-fed beef, cut to order with a bandsaw, priced by weight and grilled over ironbark. Steak fans can be very, very happy.

AcquaFresca by Pilu

80 Evans Street, Freshwater, 02 9071 8681

While there’s still a fair number of bain maries and carveries at bowlos and RSLs around town, many clubs are also investing in dining options that don’t involve carrying your food on a plastic tray. Harbord Diggers recently lured Giovanni Pilu – of two-hatted Pilu at Freshwater fame – for its swish new restaurant where members and guests can enjoy easily identifiable classics such as meatballs, vitello tonnato and eggplant parmigiana.

A field guide to Sydney Italian restaurants

The red-sauce hero

Choose your pasta, choose your sauce and possibly bring your own booze. Cheap and cheerful Italian heroes can be found in every suburb, and family birthday dinners wouldn’t be the same without them.

Bar Italia, Leichhardt; Bar Reggio, Darlinghurst; Bill and Toni’s, Darlinghurst; La Disfida, Haberfield.

The polished fine-diner

The versatility of Italian cuisine means it can be backpacker-cheap or eye-watering expensive, depending on the quality of ingredients used and whether your table is covered in gingham or linen. These restaurants are at your silver service for special occasions.

Beppi’s, Darlinghurst; Buon Ricordo, Paddington; Lucio’s, Paddington; Rosetta, Sydney; Pilu at Freshwater, Freshwater.

The quality all-rounder

Pasta, cotoletta, panna cotta - they do it all. The all-rounder remains rooted in tradition but will occasionally ignore the boundaries of regionality and authenticity. The main goal is to create something objectively delicious and serve it with care and respect.

Capriccio Osteria, Leichhardt; The Dolphin, Surry Hills; Fratelli Paradiso, Potts Point; Marta, Rushcutters Bay; Matteo Downtown, Sydney.

The new-school maverick

Who says you can’t cook Italian food using Japanese technique? Or offer a seven-course Italian tasting menu featuring kangaroo tartare? This is innovative Italian dining made for long lunches and romance.

Aqua Dining, Milsons Point; Lumi, Pyrmont; Ormeggio at The Spit, Mosman.