Maurice Terzini’s (Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, Dolphin Hotel, Bondi Beach Public Bar) Bondi diner Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta has officially closed. The casual eatery had its last service on September 8 to make way for Terzini’s latest venture: CicciaBella, an osteria inspired by the southern coast of Italy. Its name is derived from a famous Italian toy from the 1960s, the Cicciobello.

Mitch Orr, who closed his popular Rushcutters Bay eatery Acme in June, has been enlisted by Terzini to head the new venue. He’ll bring his skills with pasta to the diner and build a menu led by a “light and healthy” ethos, taking cues from the restaurant’s beachside location.

“We’ll be changing the menu often to take advantage of produce that’s at its peak,” Orr tells Broadsheet. “I’ll also get to take advantage of all the great relationships with farmers and growers that [Terzini] has invested a lot of time in building.”

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A garlic pizza fritta is the hero of the antipasti menu; made with pasta dough, it’s designed to be eaten with other antipasto dishes such as bone marrow with gremolata (a herby condiment), and blistered cherry tomatoes and smoky eggplant that have been blasted in the oven.

Orr is known for his inventiveness with pasta flavours – at Acme he infused Asian flavours into traditional Italian dishes – and here he proves his creativity has far from fizzled out. CicciaBella’s launch menu is filled with springtime ingredients. Expect strozzapreti pasta with zucchini flowers and pangrattato (breadcrumbs), and maltagliati (flat, square pasta) with braised rabbit and pistachio.

“We’re going to be making all the pasta fresh in-house,” says Orr. At CicciaBella he’ll be using premium Bellata Gold semolina in the dough.

Mains are large enough to be shared, among them a woodfired flathead with seaweed butter and lemon, and flank steak with house-made butter, named after Terzini’s first venue, Caffe e Cucina.

And Da Orazio’s 2.7-tonne woodfired oven, imported from Naples and installed into the site with a crane, still plays an integral role. Smaller new pizzas are inspired by the pizza fritta Terzini ate during childhood summers, and carry ingredients such as whole roasted fish, pippis and vegetables.

The kids menu has been crafted with familiar but complex flavours that don’t talk down to young diners. Orr sees it as a way of getting the next generation of foodies interested in seasonal ingredients and unique combinations.

“We don’t want to just offer pasta and tomato sugo [sauce],” he says. “We want families and kids to feel like they can eat everything on the menu, it’s all approachable and fun.”

Sommelier James Hird’s wine list offers light and fresh drinks driven by the menu’s flavours and focused on seasonality. All wines are Italian, and many are organic, biodynamic and sustainably produced drops. Scout’s Matt Whiley has also put together a drinks list that, like the food, is led by the seasons.

Just like the menu, the space has been made over. Melbourne architecture firm Herbert & Mason (Meatsmith, King & Godfree, Agostino) has designed a darker, more intimate space, with options for both small and large groups.

“We want to be that spot for our regulars that feels like home every time they come, whether they’re coming twice a week or dropping by later at night for a drink on their way home,” Orr says.

Da Orazio was the work of Terzini, co-owner Rachel Duffy and then-head chef Orazio D’Elia, who left the business in 2017 to open Double Bay restaurant Matteo and its CBD offshoot Matteo Downtown, which opened last year.

CicciaBella opens in early October at 75–79 Hall Street, Bondi Beach.