NewsBite

Advertisement

Park Street Pasta pair open Osteria Renata restaurant in Prahran

Emma Breheny
Emma Breheny

Osteria Renata's tuna tartare with beurre bosc pear and green olive.
Osteria Renata's tuna tartare with beurre bosc pear and green olive.Thom Mitchell

Good news, southsiders. Two members of the team behind South Melbourne's Park Street Pasta and Wine have opened a venue in Prahran.

Osteria Renata is a neighbourhood restaurant with an Italian slant, but it isn't afraid to cross borders into other parts of Europe, says owner Alex Ghaddab.

Gnocco fritto, the fried dough snack from Emilia-Romagna, is paired with jamon Iberico, while milky burrata sits on fava, the Greek dip of yellow split peas. A basket of focaccia, sourdough and Sardinian carta di musica caters to all bread orientations.

Gnocco fritto with jamon Iberico.
Gnocco fritto with jamon Iberico.Thom Mitchell
Advertisement

By day, the 58-seater is a sunlit space of white and mixed timbers. At night, it's a cosier proposition.

Beyond the courtyard is a glass-walled pasta lab, where chef Gus Cadden has the tools to produce more complex shapes than at Park Street. Quadrati – pasta squares filled with field mushrooms and mascarpone – are served with a parmesan and porcini fonduta.

Alongside three other pastas on the opening menu, you'll find veal cotoletta, garfish and Goolwa pipis with fregola (Sardinia's answer to cous cous), and, to finish, butternut semifreddo with caramelised white chocolate, Geraldton wax and butternut caramel.

Garfish with pipis and fregola.
Garfish with pipis and fregola.Thom Mitchell

Wine taps will pour Italian varietals falanghina and nero d'avola, from the Chalmers vineyards in northern Victoria, close to where Ghaddab grew up. "For me, there's a level of pride to be able to serve that stuff," he says.

Advertisement

There will also be a healthy Coravin selection of wines by the glass, as well as bottles from Australia and Italy.

Ghaddab and Cadden have stepped away from Park Street to focus on Renata, with the South Melbourne kitchen now under Davide Amato (Cappo Sociale, Fitzroy).

Open Tue-Thu 5pm-late, Fri-Sat noon-late.

436-438 High Street, Prahran, 03 9112 8962, osteriarenata.com.au

Continue this series

Melbourne hit list June: Hot, new and just-reviewed places to check out, right now
Up next
The signature burger is a fine example of the genre.

Deeds Taproom is doing good deeds in Melbourne's east

This brewpub is a boon for an area that is – how do we say this? – not quite overrun with cool destinations.

Go-to dish: Steamed dim sum.

The verdict on the Emperor's new digs in Melbourne's Chinatown

When you've got a hankering for the way Chinatown used to be, drop a pin on this trad-Canto spin-off, reviews Larissa Dubecki.

Previous
Soulful and supremely comforting: the fitfit (beef soup) served with awaze (chilli paste) and injera.

Ras Dashen's fitfit will warm your winter-brittle bones

Head to Footscray for a bowl of this Ethiopian-style beef soup that's soulful, fortifying and supremely comforting, writes Dani Valent.

See all stories
Emma BrehenyEmma BrehenyEmma is Good Food's Melbourne-based reporter and co-editor of The Age Good Food Guide 2024.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement

Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/goodfood/eating-out/osteria-renata-is-a-cosy-neighbourhood-addition-to-prahran-and-theres-a-pasta-lab-20220610-h24d3n.html