Now Open: Giuls, a Pocket-Size, Female-Led Italian Eatery in Surry Hills

After leaving her role as an area manager at Rockpool Dining Group, Giulia Treuner knew she was ready to set out on her own. She managed – after a few drinks – to convince Esmeralda Perez (ex-head chef at Carbon Mexican Woodfire) to join her. Now, the pair are running their first eatery together: Giuls, a modern Italian restaurant staffed by a nearly all-female team.

“For me [hiring mainly female staff] was super important... there are still not as many women leading teams or running their own business, so I think it’s important to see more young women creating their own businesses and leading them, and we’re just super proud that Giuls is woman-owned and led,” Treuner tells Broadsheet.

Giuls, named for the nickname given to Treuner by her grandfather, occupies a 50-square-metre space on Surry Hills’ buzzing Crown Street. It features an industrial-style interior with high ceilings and polished concrete floors. The floor-to-ceiling windows open to an outdoor terrace offering plenty of al fresco seating shaded by large red and white umbrellas.

Splashes of colour from the Italian flag are also apparent in the textured red and aqua-green terracotta tiles used to wrap the bar and kitchen backsplash. “I travelled a lot through Italy through my teenage years and in my twenties, and knew I wanted to recreate the vibe of a neighbourhood restaurant – something small, something homey, where you can connect with people,” Treuner says.

Like the fit-out, the food menu is unabashedly simple. Perez developed the menu in consultation with Florence-born chef Alessio Rago (Manly Pavilion’s former executive chef), who trained at Michelin-starred Sita in Milan, and whose Tuscan roots have helped shaped the dishes served at Giuls.

To start, there’s a small selection of snacks, including fluffy house-made focaccia topped with smoked rosemary, and arancini covered in fine shavings of smoked mozzarella and truffle aioli.

Slipping into antipasti territory, there’s a refreshing kingfish crudo with blood orange, finger lime and basil oil; creamy burrata with burnt figs and vincotto; and grilled Tasmanian octopus with a spicy ’nduja-oil dressing.

Giuls also prides itself on handmade pastas. Signatures include delicate squid-ink fettuccine with crab, cherry tomatoes and chilli, and conchiglie, pancetta and taleggio stirred through creamy vodka sauce. Look out also for the weekly specials; during Broadsheet’s visit it was theatrical flaming scallops with ’nduja cream and basil oil.

On weekends from 12pm to 5pm, there’s bottomless brunch. For $79, you’ll get 1.5 hours of bottomless Aperol Spritz, Espresso Martini, house wine or house beer, alongside an antipasto board with focaccia, arancini balls, olives and the pasta of the day.

Giuls

Shop 1, 515 Crown Street, Surry Hills
0411 155 301

Hours:
Wed & Thu 4pm–late
Fri to Sun 12pm–late

giuls.com.au
@giuls_surry_hills