Fabbrica Balmain

The Love Tilly Group (Love, Tilly Devine, Dear Saint Eloise, Ragazzi and La Salut) has brought its CBD pasta shop, wine bar and deli, Fabbrica, to the ground floor of Balmain’s historic Exchange Hotel.

Expect to see favourites from the original CBD spot and Ragazzi on the menu, including the very cheesy, very peppery spaghetti cacio e pepe; mafaldine with ‘nduja and prawns; conchiglie with spanner crab and corn; and tonnarelli with sea urchin, chilli and garlic.

But there’s more than just pasta on offer, with cured meats sliced to order, tuna crudo with pasta fritta, focaccia with anchovies and cotoletta alla Milanese, chef Scott McComas-Williams’s tribute to the traditional pub schnitzel and the Exchange’s roots.

Co-owner Matthew Swieboda’s wine list champions organic, biodynamic and minimal-intervention drops from Italy, as well as Australian-grown Italian varieties. Eight copper taps pour schooners from local and international breweries.

Architecture firm Studio Vista’s Sarah Watt, who also designed the OG Fabbrica, is behind the fit-out here, keeping the heritage-listed pub’s grand wooden bar and bringing new warmth into the space, with room for 40 punters inside and out on the streets.

Fabbrica Balmain is here for a good time – and also a fairly long time. The pop-up is expected to stick around until at least the end of 2023.