It was a good news day when we heard who’d be moving into the adored One Penny Red space. The 1901 building was once the Summer Hill post office, and over the decade of One Penny’s residency, it was the spot for polished dining: long Sunday lunches, date nights and special occasions. But when chef and restaurateur Alessandro Pavoni, together with his wife and business partner Anna Pavoni and Ormeggio co-owner Bill Drakopoulos, moves in, it’ll be a breezier offering – and you can book your seat now.

An exact opening date is yet to be set, but the team’s opened bookings from Friday November 1 – ripe for the festive season. A four-course set menu has been locked in at $79 per person, a steal for a share-style spread of antipasti, house-made pasta, saltimbocca and risotto.

The wider menu is still in development, but it’ll be big on salumi and small plates, and pair well with a breezy stand-at-the-bar energy. “I want to do an osteria like we do in Italy,” Alessandro told Broadsheet in March. “Where you go for a glass of wine, you can stand at the bar and drink, have a bit of salumi, or you can sit down and have the whole menu.”

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Postino will be as well suited to dropping in on your way home for a quick snack as it is for the canvas for your celebrations – groups big or small, sit-down or standing.

“That’s the kind of casual dining we’ve done in Italy for centuries, with places that customers visit a few times a week. Every neighbourhood should have one or two of those types of places. It’s what Italian eating is all about.”

Postino Osteria will open in August 2024, with bookings from Friday November 1 available now.

Additional reporting by Pilar Mitchell and Dan Cunningham.