Carolina Are

Whether it’s a simple spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli, ravioli stuffed to the high heavens, or lovingly layered lasagne, few foods give us the feels quite like pasta. Let’s be real – Sydney’s Italian restaurant game is seriously strong on all fronts, but when the hour calls for carbs, these are the spots that turn flour, eggs and water into small miracles. Time out Sydney's critics and pasta lovers – including Food & Drink Editor Avril Treasure – have smashed their fair share of pasta in town, and here are our favourites. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, food & drink inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox. Need an aperitivo before you chow down? Knock back a cocktail at one of the best bars in Sydney. After a slice of two? Here are the best pizza joints in Sydney.

There's something a little special about winter evenings spent picking at oily, fragrant Italian antipasti over a glass of red and some good conversation. Whether you’re after Neapolitan pastries, milky buffalo mozzarella, killer cured meats or just a bottle of top-notch olive oil from Italy’s ancient groves, these delis, bakeries, shops and providores are where you’ll find the best Italian produce in Sydney. Wondering where to pick up that bottle? Here are the best Sydney bottle shops that deliver. If you’re packing your goodies up in a wicker basket, here’s our pick of the 20 best picnic spots in Sydney.  RECOMMENDED: Go out safely by following Sydney's social distancing rules. 

Angelo Zanetti’s deli follows a family tradition started by his parents in 1957, when theystarted a fruit and veg shop where Italian immigrants could get their favourite productsfrom their homeland. Zanetti sells cheeses, juices, biscotti and pasta from all over Italy,but it prides itself of his Alba truffles, a delicacy harvested from Northern Italy. 

Deli Mercato’s olives are the right blend of Italian origins and Australian hard work.Owner Nancy Rafanaci Murdica brings them to Sydney all the way from Gaeta, in thecentral Italian region of Latio, near Rome, and then marinates them in the deli. If it’s notolives that you’re after however, Deli Mercato offers one of Sydney’s mostcomprehensive displays of Italian produce in Australia, from tuna to Panettone, plus themost famous biscotti brands like Mulino Bianco. They even stock Italian cleaningproducts. Why? Because, in Nancy’s words, ‘people need to feel at home even whenthey’re on the other side of the world and their favourite brands from back home play ahuge part in achieving that’.    

These guys were one of the first pioneers to bring Italian cheeses to Australia – they’ve been making traditional mozzarella in their Marrickville-based shop since 1958. Umberto Somma and his wife Teresa originally opened Paesanella, and sons Joseph and Max now carry on the shop’s legacy. It’s where you go for quality bocconcini, cherry bocconcini, fior di latte, burrata, mascarpone and ricotta, all made in the Marrickville deli. Their buffalo mozzarella is probably the best and cheapest you can find in Sydney ($6 a round), while their fresco cheese ($13.50) is a healthy, less salty alternative to haloumi that tastes just as good pan-fried. 

For Italian bakers, butter is the enemy. You need it, but you shouldn’t taste it: that’s what differentiates real Italian pastries from mass-produced croissants. Enter Pasticceria Tamborrino. This bakery was opened in 2002 in Five-Dock by husband and wife Vincenzo and Cristina Tamborrino who are both pastry chefs who spent more than 15 years perfecting their craft in Rome before moving to Sydney. Try their assortment of Southern Italian pastries, like the baba’ (small yeast cakes saturated in syrup made with rum and filled with whipped cream), lobster tail (a fragrant pastry filled with Chantilly cream) or the light yet indulgent ricotta-filled sfogliatelle.    

Bringing Italian meats to Australia is trickier than you think. According to DanielIannello from family-owned, 10-year-old Redfern Italian deli Delizie di Casa,products need to be aged for at least 400 days before they make it through customs.That’s why their Prosciutto San Daniele, which is one of the few products that meetsthose requirements, is one of their bestsellers.

The Pasta Emilia team make all their certified organic pastas and sauces in their kitchen connected to their trattoria-like Surry Hills restaurant. Pasta Emilia’s truffle cream sauce, which they make with fine mushrooms and features a surprising spicy kick is their most popular product among their pasta-craving clientele. You can eat it in, and it’s sold in the deli downstairs for you to take home for round two. Pair it up their house-made tortelli, filled pasta that comes in ten different flavours. We recommend matching the truffle cream with the pumpkin and mostarda or beetroot and chevre tortelli.