By the time we’d travelled to the far-flung Hillview estate and trekked up and down the hill, we were growing increasingly irate and sceptical. And yet, the food immediately won us over.
iO has a great many things going for it but perhaps best of all is its array of Italian street stacks. In fact, we’d rather you forego the mains and do it tapas-style, ordering as many appetisers and snacks as you can manage. Among our favourites: stuffed schiacciata, a comforting sandwich with ciabatta-like crustiness and slathered with truffle-flecked mascarpone; suppli, a Roman take on Sicily’s arancini, stuffed with ragu and served again with a ragu dip; and those moreish globes of olives, crammed with minced meat then breaded and fried for a salty-tart-umami flavour bomb.