Mitch Orr has cooked in some of the Harbour City’s best kitchens – including Sepia and Pilu at Freshwater, to name a few. But odds are you fell in love with Sydney’s so-called “prince of pasta” and his famous pig’s head macaroni at ACME, the Asian-Italian eatery in Rushcutters Bay that nabbed Time Out’s Restaurant of the Year trophy back in 2015.
Sadly, ACME called curtains in June of last year, but it wasn’t long before Orr found himself boiling linguine once again – this time down in Bondi at CicciaBella, the latest offering from Maurice Terzini and the Icebergs family. Although the restaurant made the decision to close until further notice on March 22, the head chef hasn’t stopped cooking; he’s sharing simple, traditional recipes on his Instagram account to help you weather these tough times.
“After everyone panic bought all the tinned tomatoes, pasta and mince, I couldn’t bear the thought of all the shit Bolognese people would be making,” he says. “I figured this would be a fun way to engage with people and hopefully teach them some new and easy ways to make some tasty pasta.”
So far, he’s posted step-by-step guides to Bolognese, carbonara and a humble aglio e olio, featuring some of the subtle Asian influences that define his style. The ingredients are mostly inexpensive pantry staples, and though he intends to keep it that way, he’s not opposed to taking requests or moving beyond the savoury repertoire.
“I think I’m going to slide a tiramisù in this week,” he says. Better start brewing that coffee...