Sydney restaurant serves up vegan carbonara pasta

A Sydney restaurant is serving up dishes Nonna would never classify as pasta, from vegan carbonara to spirulina tagliatelle

Mel Brass and Conrad Cheng tucking into mult-coloured vegan pasta at Mark + Vinny's Spaghetti and Spritz Bar in Surry Hills. Picture: Richard Dobson

A new spaghetti bar is serving up the sort of pasta that would have Nonna saying ‘No! Basta!’

Vegan carbonara, Caprese salad with mozzarella made from soy instead of buffalo milk and a chickpea ragu rather than a meat version would be anathema to any self-respecting Italian grandmother.

Charcoal carbonara with vegan egg yolk.

Then there’s the made-for-Instagram red beetroot spaghetti and blue-hued spirulina tagliatelle.

“You eat with your eyes, so we want to see where we can take it. The blue spirulina in the crab pasta gives a subtle seaweed taste which adds flavour and complexity,” said Mark Filippelli of Mark + Vinny’s Spaghetti + Spritz in Surry Hills who wanted to push the boundaries and see “what pasta can be.”

It was inspired by the blue algae latte at his Melbourne eatery, Matcha Mylkbar.

Blue spirulina tagliatelle.

As well as the blue algae, he also brought the vegan egg up north.

Reverse spherification is used to transform sweet potato into a yellow ‘yolk’.

“Traditional carbonara is based on a normal egg and we are replicating that experience. It’s got sweet potato notes and we use porcini mushrooms for the smoked mushroom pancetta,” Mr Filippelli said.

“We’ve seen a lot of innovation come from the plant-based market. It’s not just a fad, it’s a powerful movement.”

Beetroot spaghettini.

This is the latest plant-based restaurant openings in Sydney, following fine diner Alibi in Woolloomooloo and the pub-grub dishes of the Imperial Hotel, Erskineville.

Mr Filippelli said 85 per cent of the menu is vegan, but it also includes carnivore-friendly dishes such as beef rib ragu and meatballs.

“We want everyone to come and experience it, we don’t want to be in your face about being plant-based,” he said.

“A traditional meat eater can come in and have amazing dishes in a plant-based way, such as zucchini flowers stuffed with smoked almond curd instead of cheese, and be open minded about it.”