After over 20 years in Surry Hills, the rustic, unpretentious Italian diner Il Baretto has moved into the Paddo Inn ’s slick dining room. It opened in its new space to diners in late 2020.

Il Baretto 2.0 isn’t as cosy or dimly lit as the Surry Hills original, but you’ll still find head chef and co-owner Domenico Santopadre in the kitchen plating up regional-Italian dishes, co-owner Gabriella Fedeli’s son Brendan helping out on the floor and the tables filling with hungry locals enjoying generous bowls of pasta, risotto, salumi and vanilla panna cotta.

The menu, which you’ll still find handwritten on a roll of butcher’s paper hanging on the wall, is familiar, but has had some tweaks, too. A few of Il Baretto’s signature dishes – such as slow-cooked ragu pappardelle – still feature, alongside an expanded selection of antipasti, pasta and gnocchi. Paddo Inn patrons can also order from a bar menu of chicken cotoletta, lasagne and calamari fritte.

While it’s no longer BYO, there’s a good selection of aperitifs and digestifs, as well as vino from Australia and Italy (which is now poured into stemmed wine glasses, not tumblers). As at the OG restaurant, Peroni is on tap, too. Not to mention the feeling of a comfortable, inviting, family-run restaurant.