A pop-up wood-fired meats and house-made pasta restaurant in a neon-lit old drive-through bottle shop was pretty much the best repurposing of space Sydney had seen in some time, so we were pretty devastated when Mr Liquor's Dirty Italian Disco closed up shop. Turns out we weren't the only ones, because Mike Eggert is reviving the concept, alongside Khan Davis, in a new format at the Royal in Bondi, bought by Merivale late last year.
The new restaurant will be called Totti's and will seat 185 people for a Mediterranean feast of meat from the coals, fresh pasta and Italian cocktails. They're cooking the bread to order, slicing up mortadella, prosciutto and salami to go with your soft Italian cheeses. There's even a courtyard for some alfresco vibes.
The plan is to have half a dozen pasta options each day; and they're panning to make their own sausages if a house-made schnitzel of whole fish over the coals doesn't appeal to you. And who wouldn't want a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich in the midst of a Sydney summer?
They might not be able to bring the walk-in fridges with them, but that doesn't mean you won't have your pick of 50 wines, so you can kick back in the old-school taverna or out under the olive trees and really make a day of it.
Totti's will open in December 2018 at 283 Bondi Rd, Bondi 2026.
Fancy a tipple? Sydney's best wine bars should sort you out.