12 of Sydney’s best hatted Italian restaurants from the Good Food Guide

Restaurant trends come and go like Uber Eats McNuggets orders in the night, but Sydney’s love for pasta is eternal. Italian food remains as popular as it was when The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide was launched in 1984, only these days it’s more about gnocco fritto and Sardinian orange wine than saltimbocca and cheap sangiovese. Here are 12 of the best hatted Italian restaurants from the Good Food Guide, from Freshwater to the foot of the Blue Mountains.

10 William Street

This squished Paddington terrace is still firing on its foundational promise: well-priced, intriguing wines, small plates of reliable sharpness and a convivial atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re elbow-to-elbow with a big, happy family. Your first move will always be a sweep of the wine blackboard; followed by a request for guidance from the enthusiastic team who always have a suggestion. You’ll almost certainly want a crudo and a croquette – maybe scallop with lemonade fruit, and mozzarella-stuffed suppli – and that famous pretzel with whipped bottarga, still one of the best bread dishes in town. Pasta could come in the form of tagliatelle bouncing with fat mushrooms, while dessert could be a crisp tarte tatin, if you somehow manage to skip the tiramisu.

10 William Street, Paddington; 10williamst.com.au

Vin-Cenzo’s

If you’re not ordering the roast chicken and mortadella agnolotti in brodo as a mid-course, please see yourself out. If not for the chubby pasta knots bobbing around in that golden, perfectly clarified, lip-stickingly unctuous broth, then for the nonna-fabulous tureen it’s served in. The newest in a line of hits (Bar Copains, Bessie’s and Alma’s) from chefs Morgan McGlone and Nathan Sasi, this sweet, buzzy Italian restaurant lives on the old Bar Vincent site. Order a Campari and blood orange and an orb of focaccia with smooth house-made ricotta, then make your way through a battery of flavour bombs, from anchovy-stuffed zucchini fritters to the sweetest eggplant alla Norma.

174 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst; vin-cenzos.com

Cricca

Among Windsor’s sandstone architecture and riverboats, Cricca is quietly reframing suburban dining. It has the warmth of an Italian local, with welcoming smiles, staff telling stories of Mediterranean fishing trips and walls lined with black-and-white memories of Rome. But next-generation chef-owner Alessio Nogarotto, alongside childhood friend and head chef Giles Gabutina, has taken the concept to another level. There’s flatbread rising and oysters roasting in the wood-fired oven, shelves crowded with little-known Italian wines (try the skin-contact Piedmont arneis), and creative Italian-ish dishes led by seasonal Hawkesbury produce – most meant for sharing, some so good you won’t want to.

1/135 George Street, Windsor; instagram.com/criccarestaurant

Neptune’s Grotto

Neptune’s Grotto makes you pine for the era of the three-martini lunch – a time that facilitated all-day disappearances fuelled by expense accounts. Descend the stairs to this enclave beneath sibling restaurant Clam Bar, and outside-world responsibilities just slip away. Wine man Andy Tyson and chefs Dan Pepperell and Mikey Clift have been vamping with every venue they touch, and this is the trio’s most romantic and Goodfellas-esque of the bunch. How’s that zebra-print carpet? Olives all’ascolana are perfect with that deathly cold cocktail, and marinated zucchini with mint vinaigrette is unexpectedly glorious. Pork sausage gramigna pasta (the slightly twisty one) is extra lush, and there’s grandma-style pizza slices to scoop up the sauce.

44 Bridge Street, Sydney; neptunesgrotto.com

Pilu at Freshwater

There’s an easy sense of hospitality at this 21-year-old seaside restaurant. Tables could equally be made up of multi-generational families lunching or truffle-snuffling couples. Giovanni Pilu’s Sardinian roots show in the hand-made culurgiones – small, pillowy dumplings oozing with potato in a roast chicken jus, flecked with crisp chicken skin.“The chef calls these little parcels of love,” says the waiter. The refreshed menu jumps with good ideas, such as crudo of coral trout bright with mandarin, and a snow-white tranche of Murray cod with fennel and fruity black olives. Or stay Sardinian with the signature roast suckling pig, the milky, sweet meat teamed with sharp red cabbage and sheep’s yoghurt.

Moore Road, Freshwater; pilu.com.au

Fontana

In a city where Italian restaurants feel a bit copy-paste, Fontana continues to do its own thing with equal parts restraint and gusto. A chic, modest fit-out makes a strong case that fresh flowers and a nice banquette create just as much comfort as any $3 million renovation in the CBD, while Dan Johnston’s food traverses Italy depending on the season. Hot and chewy rolls ooze with glorious caramelised garlic butter, and schie fritte (fried prawns) are lightly battered, resting on a bed of smooth polenta, the prawns bouncy and kicked up with citrus and chilli. Pesce (Murray cod) al limone is barely opaque and soft as silk; gnochetti con salsiccia is an unexpectedly spicy sausage affair tempered by lemon. Co-owner Ivey Wawn’s infectiously warm hospitality extends to the rest of the outstanding floor crew, with the meal reaching a graceful and elegant coda via a creamy stracciatella gelato. Very Rome. Very Redfern. Very good.

Level 1, 133A Redfern Street, Redfern; clubfontana.com

a’Mare

Amore a’mare equals Italian love by the sea, and this place sure knows how to sell it. Particularly when it comes with shiny harbour views – sparkling by day, shimmering by night. Add swish trolley service, a flashily furbished dining room, personalised share-plate portioning, I-want-it-all presentation, and the love grows. Following chef-restaurateur Alessandro Pavoni’s approach to archetypal Italian, fork into a rich-tomato seafood risotto, properly fluffy gnocchi with wagyu ragu, a thick cotoletta milanese (sliced on-the-bone schnitty with real sun-dried tomatoes) and a just-right rocket, parmesan and balsamic salad side. All done immaculately. Chef Giuseppe Fuzio, from Puglia, adds a homeland hand to seafood, things from the wood-grill and genuine vegetable freshness. Amore a’mare indeed.

1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo; crownsydney.com.au/restaurants/amare

Otto Ristorante

This harbourside institution, rocking a wide-ranging wine list and a menu of Italian classics from chef Richard Ptacnik, remains one of the best lunch spots in town. Gnocco fritto with house-made bresaola, honey, vin santo and gorgonzola is a brilliant opener: crisp, sweet, fatty, acidic and rich in all the right places. Scallop tartare on brioche nails the balance of textures, while pasta runs from rustic all the way up to a spin on Venetian spaghetti all’Aragosta sauced with cherry tomatoes, lobster and brandy. The paparazzi of old may have moved on, but gazing over the water with a crisp pinot grigio in hand, Otto still feels like the place to be.

Area 8, 6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo; ottoristorante.com.au/sydney

Attenzione!

There’s a plate of oversized pici on nearly every table at this yellow-hued bunker of a restaurant with Y2K lounge-bar energy. The pasta has undeniable visual appeal – thick, hand-rolled noodles coiled in creamy cacio e pepe sauce – but it’s also fun to eat, inspiring long, laughing slurps. It’s the signature on an oft-changing menu with a playful, post-structuralist approach to Italian cuisine. Who’d have thought whipped brown butter and crumbled cornflakes would work so well slathered on thick slices of Cristal bread, or dan dan noodles could inspire a (much milder) trottole pasta twirled with pork ragu and salted cucumber? The champagne risotto is perfect, the wine list is both unserious and sophisticated, and service is casually attentive.

180 Redfern Street, Redfern; attenzionefoodandwine.com

Cibaria

The Manly venture from creative director Alessandro Pavoni and the crew behind Ormeggio at The Spit is quite an undertaking. There’s a standalone bar doing a steady trade in negronis and lobster rolls. The cafe-gelateria is a destination unto itself and, of course, there’s the actual restaurant. The menu gives generously when it comes to exciting, saucy carbs and scorched treats. Hook straight in and order the puffy, wood-fired pizzette, drenched in so much smoky-sweet sugo you can use it as a dip. Stay on the left-hand side of the carte for a beat if you want to linger over a glass of fizz. Perhaps a serve of raw scallops on the shell, dressed with finger lime, chervil and salmon roe. Service is often two steps ahead, too. That might be a gentle lead through the menu, or knowing to bring extra bread to clean up the last of a particularly potent puttanesca.

55 N Steyne, Manly; cibariamanly.au

Gran Torino

Neil Perry’s Cantonese diner Song Bird may have closed unceremoniously, but Gran Torino has risen from the ashes. The result is pure Perry, founded on impeccable produce, obsessive about detail, depth of flavour and balance. He and Richard Purdue have thrown back to Rosetta with much of the menu – proper layered and marinated vitello tonnato, say – and plenty of ingredients are shared between here and at Margaret. For Perry fans, it’s one more way to enjoy the fruits of his supply network. Who else serves such sweet, complex Mishima bresaola, hit just a little with parmesan and olive oil? Or such stunning wild-caught kingfish, cut thick and sauced with classic salsa verde? The cotoletta is crisp, the cellar is forward-thinking, the pasta has spring, and tiramisu comes by the bowlful.

24 Bay Street, Double Bay; themargaretfamily.com/venue/gran-torino

Osteria Mucca

What is luxury, anyway? Lobster, caviar, high marble-score wagyu? Osteria Mucca, one of three new openings – along with Mister Grotto and Joe’s Tavern – joining Continental Deli in a strip on Australia Street, says no thanks. Reflecting the site’s history as a butcher, chef Janina Allende homes in on alternative cuts, coaxing them to deliciousness through time and attentive cooking. Coppa di testa, say, with strips of pig’s ear throughout. Or cotechino, the gutsy pork sausage checked with salsa verde and mustard fruits. Candles flicker, plates are rimmed in gold, tables dressed with tablecloths hum with activity. This, too, is luxury, although it’s not all deep cuts. House ricotta is crowd-pleasing comfort and a plate of lamb turns out to be the city’s finest mixed grill, while pastry chef Lauren Eldridge’s Sicilian cassata is fast becoming the stuff of legend.

212 Australia Street, Newtown; paisanoanddaughters.com.au

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.