Adamo's Pasta

If you want to know the seriousness of a pasta maker, look in their kitchen. In Adamo Pavirani’s you’ll find two pasta machines dedicated to making only tortellini (a small meat-stuffed parcel) and tortelloni (a larger, typically vegetarian parcel). Next to those there’ll be a line of chefs kneading, cutting and cooking a dozen different pasta varieties. Some pasta will end up stuffed with duck, crab or butternut pumpkin.

This is more than just a great pasta joint. Yes, you can order fresh gnocchi with Pavirani’s signature tomato, fennel and sausage sauce; arancini; meatballs; or a traditional northern Italian flat bread (purists will be happy to hear it’s made with lard). But you can also stock up on a wide range of dry and fresh pastas, sauces and ready-made lasagnes. Before you order, look across the burnished gold counter to find treats from Pasticceria Papa and beans from Gabriel Coffee.

On the last Thursday of each month the restaurant opens for regional dinners, serving pastas and local specialties by chef Mickey Bottaro. The level of dedication to traditional pasta is rare, but it’s unsurprising given Pavirani comes from generations of pasta makers – before going solo, he worked with his parents at Western Sydney’s Center Pasta.