Now Open: Alexandria’s 154-Year-Old Pub Camelia Grove Has Transformed Into a Stylish Italo-Inspired Trattoria

After 38 years under the same ownership, Alexandria’s 154-year-old Camelia Grove Hotel was sold to Public Hospitality Group (the people behind the recent overhauls of The Strand and The Norfolk Hotel) in 2021. The longstanding pub is now unrecognisable after a significant reno and rebrand, re-opening late last year as a polished pub and trattoria, with boutique accommodation upstairs and chef Giuseppe Fuzio steering the kitchen down below.

“We wanted to do something different to any other pub in Sydney,” Fuzio (ex-Ormeggio) tells Broadsheet. “Ninety per cent of pubs in Sydney have the same menu. We wanted to be more creative.”

There are still (refined) pub classics (a chicken schnitty, say, or a steak with fries), but there are also house-made pastas (going for $20 on Mondays) and stone-baked pizzas (which are made with flour flown in from Italy). There’s also special attention paid to the seafood, informed by Fuzio’s upbringing in a seaside town in Puglia, Italy.

“Our tagliolini marinara is a beautiful snapper with shellfish cooked in fish stock. Then there are the king prawns and swordfish steak, which I love to cook by charcoaling them, nice and easy, on the grill. I never manipulate the food too much, I just make sure we always use the best ingredients.”

Fuzio brings an impressive CV with him, having worked in Florence at Santo Graal where he was mentored by chef Simone Cipriani. Equally influential was his time in Japan with chef Hiroyasu Yamamoto in a fine-dining Japanese-Italian restaurant in Hakone. “Yamamoto taught me many cooking techniques that I still use to this day, which is why you’ll notice a tataki style in all my seafood,” says Fuzio. “Japanese cooking is all about keeping the highest standard when cooking seafood and meat.”

The menu is designed for maximum comfort, whether you’re settling in for a midweek dinner or enjoying a $12 spritz and antipasti (served with just-baked cushions of focaccia) with friends in the courtyard on a sunny weekend afternoon.

The maze-like space includes a good old-fashioned sports bar with a pool table, screens to watch the game, and a beer garden. On the other side is a comfortable dining room, with an impressive wine wall and adjoining courtyard.

here's also boutique accommodation upstairs at Camelia House. Two three-bedroom heritage apartments are on offer, plus a studio apartment with room enough for two – all fitted out in premium furnishings and calming neutral colourways, and with access to a communal garden terrace. Apartments can be booked separately or as an all-in-one space for communal city getaways.

Camelia Grove
146 Henderson Rd, Alexandria

Hours:
Mon to Sat 10am–12am

Sun 10am–10pm

thecamelia.com.au
@cameliagrovehotel