Roberta’s Italian eatery takes over University of Adelaide bar for the Fringe

A simple eatery serving classic Italian cucina and an atmospheric piazza with bars, music and a cellar door will bring the University of Adelaide’s newly renovated cloisters precinct to life during the Fringe.

Food at Roberta's - part of RCC at University of Adelaide for Fringe

A simple eatery serving classic Italian cucina and an atmospheric piazza with bars, music and a cellar door will bring the University of Adelaide’s newly renovated cloisters precinct to life during the Fringe.

Part of the RCC Fringe residency, the project will be overseen by Roberto Cardone, co-founder of the original Cibo Ristorante and now director of RCC.

Hence the name: Roberta’s. “I told the team they could call it anything but Roberto’s, so that’s what they came up with,” he laughs. “But I do love the name.”

Roberta’s will take over the new university bar for the first five weeks of its life.

Roberto Cardone, a founder and director of CIBO Espresso. will be serving classic Italian cucina at the RCC. Photo: Matt Turner

The team of chefs, Selvina Limmand Rhiannon Pinneri, and manager Frankie Marafioti, will serve up an uncomplicated menu including beef carpaccio, a trio of pastas, fried squid, eggplant parmigiana and tiramisu scooped from a large bowl.

“I just want a really simple, comfortable place anyone can go to... and have fun,” Roberto, right, says. “When I was in Edinburgh for their Fringe, it was obvious that a lot of the artists did hang out at venues where there was a restaurant or something to eat. They would come together every day.”

Roberto says the arched cloisters remind him of Bologna’s porticos and the courtyard they enclose will become a piazza with a wine bar and music from students at the Elder Conservatorium earlier in the week.

“Friday and Saturday we will pump it up a bit,” he says.

Roberta’s will be open from Tuesday to Sunday during the Fringe