Alessandro Pavoni didn’t exactly set out to open a neighbourhood restaurant – let alone one in Summer Hill, a suburb he admits has been a pain in the arse to get to from his northern beaches home every day. But the old Summer Hill post office gave him the idea.

“It’s iconic. It spoke to me, you know? I remember places like this where I used to go in Italy,” he tells Broadsheet. “It told me, ‘osteria’.”

Venue first, concept second: that’s how it’s always been for the acclaimed chef, a master of waterside Italian dining and a self-professed stickler for not repeating himself.

We think you might like Access. For $12 a month, join our membership program to stay in the know.

SIGN UP

“That’s what excites me, that’s what I like to do. But I’m very fortunate to have these people,” he says, gesturing to a team that includes partner Anna Pavoni and Ormeggio co-owner Bill Drakopoulos, who’ve spent months transforming the old One Penny Red site.

When it opens this Friday, the two-storey, timber clad diner will be a shake-up not just for the suburb, but for Pavoni’s whole Sydney stable. “Chiosco is a barefoot trattoria by the water in Amalfi. Ormeggio is a fine diner in Liguria. A’Mare is an old villa house on the lake where service is paramount. Postino is our osteria.”

Postino isn’t a “one-town” osteria, either. For the menu, Pavoni has drawn inspiration from “Piedmont to Sicily”, with an emphasis on the country’s north, where he’s from.

For a starter, he loves the house take on baccala mantecato, a traditional Venetian dish of salted cod that’s been poached in milk, whipped with olive oil, herbs and served with polenta. Here, it’s made with Murray cod and married with a crispy polenta chip. “It’s got crunchy, salty, umami. Boom, boom, boom.”

Then there’s the mondeghini: fried Milanese meatballs. “They’re usually made with leftover roast and mortadella, then crumbed and fried. They don’t need any sauce because they’re so juicy inside. One tiny little piece reminds me of Milan.”

The meatballs don’t stop there. Pavoni is particularly proud of the spaghetti chitarra con pallottine. The dish is the OG spaghetti and meatballs, hailing from Abruzzo in southern Italy.

“In Australia and the US, meatballs are big. These ones are a little bigger than a pea. It’s a nightmare to make them, but it has to be done ... We make the spaghetti chitarra with eggs, by hand. It’s the real deal, like you would have [in Abruzzo].”

Postino only offers a handful of mains, like market fish or an eggplant parmigiana, or Pavoni’s favourite saltimbocca, a hunk of backstrap veal fried with butter and sage and layered with culatello prosciutto imported from Parma.

Comfort and familiarity at Postino is one thing. Versatility is another. For a start, there’s ample space for drop-in guests and reservations alike. There’s a private dining room upstairs if you really want to push the boat out. Sure, there’s a $79 set menu – but Postino doesn’t demand an all-in experience, and prices aren’t much higher than the local pub. “Come and have a few snacks, one pasta, two glasses of wine and ciao.”

Postino Osteria
2 Moonbie Street, Summer Hill
(02) 8350 0899

Hours:
Wed & Thu 5pm–10.30pm
Fri & Sat 11.30am–2.30pm, 5pm–10.30pm
Sun 11.30am–2.30pm

postino.au
@postino.osteria