A neighbourhood tratt that’s saucing up the local scene with smoky veg, Roman-style pizzas and lively pastas.
There’s the harried, but friendly service. The noise. The wood-fired oven at centre stage. This is the real deal; an Italian diner with just enough attitude to make you feel like you’re back on The Continent’s boot. But there’s no television showing soccer in the corner, no cluster of Vespas on the footpath outside. Just a constant stream of diners lining up for the scorched-crust pizza this stalwart pumps out – the sort that would make an Italian proud.
Vegetables are smoky from the grill. Cavatelli pasta is kissed by sweet clams, prawns and squid in a tomatoey sauce that you want to lick from the plate.
They could be here for the arancini with ragù and peas (or even better, filled with mushroom and Taleggio) that has them enthralled. Or maybe it’s the just-cooked mussels in a lively, slurpable sauce, heady with white wine, chilli and garlic. Vegetables are smoky from the grill. Cavatelli pasta is kissed by sweet clams, prawns and squid in a tomatoey sauce that you want to lick from the plate. Dishes can sometimes be too rustic and too generous, if that’s possible, as in thick pappardelle dressed heavily with a ragù of veal, lamb and pork. But crisp-shelled ricotta cannoli are second to virtually none.
