Coming Soon: A Homely Trattoria Is Moving to Rushcutters Bay, Taking Over the Marta Space

The chef behind Bondi’s Da Orazio, Orazio D’Elia, is known for his contributions to Sydney’s pizza scene. And the plump maritozzi, cream-filled cannoncini and other baked goods you can find at his Alexandria pasticceria. But before all that came a career that started in Milan and took him to Sydney – into the Rushcutters Bay Popolo kitchen, where he was head chef. Now, he’s back in that very kitchen, readying to open Da Orazio Trattoria.

“Bella, I’m so excited,” D’Elia says. “This is a special one. Fifteen years ago, when I was appointed chef at this Italian restaurant, basically I gave everything I had to make sure my name was going to get out there – and it did. So from there, it was my stepping stone.”

Trattorias are simple by design, and the chef is leaving the pizza in Bondi. Expect homely dishes from right across Italy, including those D’Elia grew up eating in his Naples hometown of Pomigliano d’Arco, and on trips around the country.

“Top to bottom. You might be having a dish from the north with a side dish from the south next to it. Really celebrating the cucina d’Italia,” he says. “Usually those osterias and trattorias of Italy, they keep family recipes. I wanted to cook that, too. I want to reimagine what I grew up with and change it into what it would be today – obviously my type of cuisine.”

D’Elia’s working on his own tiella di Gaeta, an octopus pie first made by fishmongers in Gaeta, a coastal town south of Rome where he holidayed as a child. There will be pasta, too, plus mains kissed by coals, including a steak dressed in his father’s chimichurri-style dressing – jazzed up for the restaurant setting. “Parsley, oregano, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, lemon zest. It reminds me of him, you know? I can picture him grilling his steak, making this dressing himself.”

Expect a full refit for the venue, which was most recently Marta, the Roman dining room and bar.

Da Orazio Trattoria is expected to open at 30 McLachlan Avenue, Rushcutters Bay, in autumn 2026.

@da_orazio_trattoria