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Italian restaurants in Sydney are as popular as a CoolCabana on a 30-something degree day in Bondi. You only need to look at how many excellent – and busy – Italian diners there are across the city to see how long-lasting our love affair is with pasta, tomatoes and olive oil. In a world of climate disaster and Mark Zuckerberg’s new haircut, there’s something deeply comforting and grounding about the food from the land of red, white and green. Sure, nonnas are known to load up your plate. But Italian food does more than fill the belly – it feeds the soul.
Now there’s another osteria you need to add to your list. That is Postino Osteria, Summer Hill’s newcomer from Alessandro and Anna Pavoni (plus co-owner Bill Drakopoulos). They’re the star duo behind seafood haven Ormeggio, bright-and-breezy Chiosco, theatrical fine diner A’Mare and Manly’s new go-to, Cibaria.
Postino Osteria is located in a beautiful two-storey brick building, the heritage-listed former post office, once home to One Penny Red. (The name is a play on words: "Postino" means both ‘postman’ and ‘small but cosy place’ in Italian.) It’s a wet and windy Sydney evening when we visit, and walking in feels like being enveloped in the warm Mediterranean Sea.
The décor, which has been designed by Larissa Raywood and Perry Drakopoulos, is rich and cosy, with carpet the colour of a ripe tomato, mismatched vintage art, white frilly curtains, retro fringed chairs and banquet seating featuring birds. There’s indoor and alfresco seating, plus a bar for an afterwork vino. My favourite part is seeing the room filled with people from all walks of life – elderly couples, locals who live around the corner, families with children.
It almost feels like I’m in someone’s home
It’s time for an aperitif. The Tro-picante cocktail, made with Espolon Blanco tequila, Cocchi Americano, mango and habanero cordial, celery, tamarind and lime sounds interesting, so I stick to the classics and go for Vetz on the rocks. From Bologna, it tastes similar to an Amaro Montenegro with both sweet and bitter notes.
Postino Osteria’s menu travels from Piedmont to Sicily, with many dishes influenced by the northern Italian region of Lombardy, Pavoni’s homeland. Tonight, Gianluca Esposto, A’Mare’s general manager, is leading the floor, and we begin with his favourite snack from Milan: mondeghili. Two egg-shaped meatballs arrive with a crisp and deeply bronzed fried shell. We swipe them into aioli and take a bite. The golden exterior encases a mixture of minced beef, pork sausage and mortadella that’s just pink and flavoured by garlic and parsley.
It’s incredibly delicious, and it takes all my willpower to not order another plate straight away
Fave e cicoria, a traditional dish originating from the heel of Italy’s boot, Puglia, follows. The legumes are puréed until smooth, and topped with chicory sauteed in olive oil with garlic and flecks of Calabrian chilli. It’s topped with flat and crunchy fava beans and a snow of Tuscan pecorino that melts in our mouth; the bitter greens are balanced by the creamy, nutty beans.
My favourite vitello tonnato in Sydney comes out of Chiosco’s kitchen. At Postino, Pavoni has swapped veal for thinly sliced Blackmore Wagyu that’s partly hidden underneath a blanket of tuna mayo studded with salty capers and toasted pine nuts. While it doesn’t quite snag pole position, every last bit is mopped up with crusty bread.
I understand the need to turn tables, but one of my biggest dining gripes is when the pacing feels rushed, not allowing diners any time to savour, reset and look forward to the next course. This isn’t the case at Postino, with Esposto checking if we would like a break and our pastas one at a time. I respond back with love-heart eyes and a big yes, please.
Fresh linguini comes coated in a buttery, preserved Amalfi lemon sauce with a grilled Moreton Bay bug. Salted from the sea, the meat is tender and sweet, and the accompanying layered bisque bolsters it.
Instead of two, there are 40 or so small meatballs in our chitarra spaghetti con pallottine, a dish from Italy’s Abruzzo region. A rich and bright sugo clings to the pasta, and the soft, marble-like meatballs are a delight. What’s also a delight is a 2022 bottle of San Lorenzo 'Gino' Rosso Piceno sangiovese from Montepulciano, which is smooth and velvety with dark berries and a hint of spice.
We finish with a textbook tiramisù topped with pistachios from Bronte (in Sicily, not the one with the ace beach), reaffirming that the green nut makes almost everything better. And just like that, our bellies, and our cups, are full.
Esposto’s service is exceptional, of course, but so too is the whole, mostly Italian team. Our waters are always topped up, our table cleared promptly, and I think I chat with every friendly member of the waitstaff.
Dining at Postino Osteria feels good. It’s honest, homestyle Italian fare, served in a cosy dining room with service as polished as a Ferrari. No wonder it’s always packed with locals.
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