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The lights are low, my Campari and soda has just arrived, and there’s a buzz in the air as Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s eternal banger ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ plays overhead. My date is a few minutes away, and I’m experiencing that kind of bliss when your workday has ended and your night kicks into gear. And that’s mostly because I’m here to check out Fabbrica Pasta Bar Darlinghurst, the sequel to the CBD’s much-adored Fabbrica Pasta Shop by the Love, Tilly group (also Ragazzi, Palazzo Salato, Love, Tilly Devine). Next up on the playlist is Neil Young followed by Talking Heads, and by this point, I know two things to be true. The first is that I am really looking forward to eating pasta. The second is that any restaurant going from ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ to ‘Harvest Moon’ and ‘This Must Be the Place’ is, well, my kinda place.
Any restaurant going from ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ to ‘Harvest Moon’ and ‘This Must Be the Place’ is, well, my kinda place.
Fabbrica Pasta Bar Darlinghurst opened its doors in April this year, taking over the former home of A Tavola on Victoria Street in Darlinghurst. The two-storey, 80-seat restaurant is decked out in a blue and white colour palette, with blue textured wall art and the same long communal table in the middle, now painted white. Guests can hang their coats along the mirrored wall, and there’s more seating out the back, plus a private events space upstairs. It’s a groovy, moody space, illuminated by hanging moons that run along the centre of the room.
Group chef Scott McComas-Williams and Darlinghurst head chef Damiano Balducci are behind the menu, which features classic Fabbrica hits (hi, cacio e pepe) and some newcomers. Similar to their other venues, hand-made pasta is the focus here alongside share-style Italian-leaning plates.
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If you didn’t already know, hot honey is having a moment, and a starter of a ricotta-stuffed zucchini flower fried until crisp with a cellophane-like batter and finished with a drizzle of the stuff proves why. It’s crunchy and creamy, sweet and salty, and just like a bee, it has a chilli sting, albeit a far more enjoyable one.
House-made sourdough is lathered in puttanesca butter and topped with a meaty Cantabrian anchovy and a sprinkling of chives. Butter, bread, and an umami anchovy are on most wine bar menus for good reason, and here the tomato and herbs add interest and flavour.
Matthew Swieboda is behind the tight and considered drinks list, which spotlights minimal-intervention Italian and Aussie wine producers. I go for a glass of Continental Platter 'Delirium On Skins' 2023 from SA’s Riverland that’s fun, fresh and zesty. There’s also a handful of cocktails, including a Limoncello Spritz and Blood Orange Americano, which reads like a hot girl summer, and a couple of beers from Yulli’s.
It’s time for the main act, pasta, and first up is lumache with Tathra Place pork and fennel sausage and beans. The shell-like pasta is cooked al dente, and the shape of it allows it to capture the glorious sauce. The sausage is on point, juicy with a hint of chilli, and the white beans are soft and tender. We wolf it down.
We weigh up ordering the mafaldine with prawns and ’nduja, the trottole with a lamb ragu and ricotta, and even the pork cotoletta alla Milanese, but land on tonnarelli with blue swimmer crab and chilli. Thicker than spaghetti, the tonnarelli is twirled in a luscious and buttery sauce with sweet crab meat stirred throughout, and I can picture myself eating this by the sea in Italy. A side salad of shredded cabbage arrives under a mountain of salty Parmigiano-Reggiano snow. Fresh mint and a sharp vinegar make it a banging salad.
We finish with a smooth and creamy panna cotta with an orange and rum caramel, which brings tart fruity notes, and toasted pepitas add crunch. It’s not overly sweet either, which I dig. I’m also digging the service, which has been seamless and intuitive all evening.
We head out to leave and I see "Ciao" is painted in big blue letters on a white door. And as I say good evening to this cool, fun and yum pasta palace, I know I will be back again soon. I reckon you should swing by Fabbrica Pasta Bar Darlinghurst and say ciao, too.
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