Matteo Downtown 2.0's pizza really satisfies

The idea of going out for dinner to a big, buzzy Italian in the heart of the CBD is still so good that I swap my tee for a proper shirt, with buttons and everything.

But it's hard not to feel overdressed when groups of three or four gym buddies come in, still in their workout gear, knocking back cocktails and pizza as if gyms and restaurants had never vanished from their lives.

That's probably good, though, isn't it? The owners of Matteo Downtown say they want to shift the dialogue about dining out away from it being an extravagance or an event to it being an essential ritual enjoyed any time.

After being closed for the past seven months – and nearly all of 2020 – Eddie Levy and Adam Abrams of Matteo Double Bay and the new Osborn House resort in Bundanoon reopened Downtown in March.

It's been musical chairs in the kitchen, with a new executive chef (Giovanni Astolfoni), and head chef (Adam Szymankiewicz) moving across from the grandeur of Seta, and former chef Orazio D'Elia​ returning to Bondi to open Da Orazio.

The chairs themselves – all 270 of them – remain unchanged, whether you're dining on the covered terrace, in the circular bar, or in the vast dining room with its parquetry floor and half-curtained windows.

And yes, the two formidable wood-fired Forni Visciano ovens originally brought from Naples are still here. That's a relief. What has changed, however, is what comes out of them.

While D'Elia specialised in the softer, floppier Neapolitan-style pizza, Astolfoni and pizza chef Marco Terracciano are all about the crisper, thinner Roman style.

Their dough is based on the high hydration and long leavening technique (up to 72 hours) of Roman pizzaiolo Angelo Iezzi, and creates a clean-flavoured base that's still light and pliable enough to fold and eat in the hand.

It makes the semolina-dusted Downtown pizza ($32) really satisfying, with a nicely acidic tomato sugo and creamy fior di latte, the prosciutto, rocket, and truffled stracciatella laid over the top clinging like damp silk to skin. A tray of chilli oil and dried peperoncini is brought – always a nice touch.

Then I do something really dumb and order the brodetto di pesce ($89 for two), which I know is fish stew but don't know it's sealed with an entire pizza's worth of dough. It's brought to the table and ceremoniously cut open, and you're meant to let the crust drop into the runny capsicum-red broth and soak it up.

Even without the carb overload, it's not a total triumph, with the prawns, clams, mussels and fish feeling bitsy and overcooked (some curls of squid survive and are a highlight).

Back for lunch, I steer clear of pizza and the serious wood-fired steaks (1.5 kilogram Riverine tomahawk, $190) and start with a textural beef tartare ($32). Good call.

The hand-chopped and well-seasoned Riverine beef rump cap is bright with pickles, capers and anchovies, and comes with egg yolk for mixing, and scrunchy wood-fired schiacciata crispbread.

House-made gnocchi with an Abruzzese-style lamb and red capsicum ragu ($36) is tick-the-box comfort food, but bringing pre-grated cheese is a bit of a downer. Wine-wise, a Tarrawarra barbera ($90) rocks less tannin than its Italian equivalent and is quite delicious.

Matteo Downtown is the sort of dining room you want to be in right now, and the pizza is a strong point, but I can't get excited about much else. Not the burrata with grilled zucchini ($26), nor the "urban green foraging" salad ($14), and not the Coppa Downtown ($18) of fior di latte ice-cream, whipped cream and cold slices of plum.

Exec chef Astolfoni is back in Italy for family reasons – perhaps that's an issue. Or maybe it's not meant to be exciting. As the city's pulse starts to quicken, maybe being a big, back-to-basics, mid-market Italian restaurant that feeds people without making a big deal of it, is enough. Maybe.

The low-down

Vibe Business buzz by day, pizza and cocktail scene by night.

Go-to dish Downtown pizza with prosciutto, truffle stracciatella and rocket ($32).

Drinks Italian cocktails with a twist, Menabrea on tap, and an impressive Italian varietal-heavy wine list.