Tucked down Adelaide’s small-but-mighty hospo powerhouse, Leigh Street, is New York-inspired Italian-American bar and dining room, Fugazzi. The decor looks like the most upmarket Brooklyn Italian diner you could possibly imagine. Rich reds, a plethora of clashing patterns and marble countertops together should be an assault to the eye, but it’s quite the opposite. Every texture and shape is so considered, so artistic that it feels like walking into a piece of performance art. You could spend an entire evening counting every different material on every different surface – and that's before even getting to the bathroom.
As you leave your comfy round banquette to check out the now-famed lavatory, you might catch a sideways glimpse of a familiar face in the open kitchen. On the evenings she’s not working at sister restaurant Nido Bar and Pasta, owner and chef Laura Sharrad mans the kitchen. That’s THE Laura Sharrad, AKA pasta queen, from MasterChef season six – and more recently, 2020’s MasterChef’s all-star series. Unsurprisingly, the Pasta at Fugazzi is pretty good. OK, it’s phenomenal.
And while the pasta-drawcard is undoubtedly what gets people through the doors, the unsung hero of the Fugazzi menu is the impossibly light, oily, delicious fried bread, or gnocco fritto. It’s served with whipped ricotta and honey, and honestly, I’d eat it for dessert. Or breakfast. You’ll be tempted to gorge yourself on it, but be warned, if you’re doing the chef’s selection menu, you need to pace yourself. It is a lot of food.
There’s enough fresh seafood to provide relief from the heavy, carby ‘Pasta’ and ‘Fire’ sections. But ultimately, this is a restaurant you’ll roll out of, no matter what you do – so you might as well give in. Dive headfirst into a big, luscious bowl of Fugazzi carbonara served with a raw egg yolk in the centre, or a hearty serving of pork and fennel sausage campanelle.
Dessert is a kind of elevated tiramisu-meets-tartufo. Even if you’re not a coffee-lover, or even a dessert-lover, order this. The espresso-chocolate soil is just bitter enough to offset the sweetness of the ice cream and gooey, chocolate centre. It’s expertly balanced. I was too full to finish it but think of it often.
Eliza Campbell dined as a guest of South Australian Tourism.