Noi or ‘us’ in Italian centres community around tasty and ethical cooking
‘Something I don’t think Petersham has seen’: The co-owner of LuMi restaurant in Pyrmont opens a new Italian eatery in the inner west.
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Anastasia Drakopoulos has been waiting three years to turn a 1920s Petersham shop into an enlightened Italian-style restaurant.
‘Noi’ will open tomorrow, promising a fusion of European and Asian flavours, wrapped up in their signature miso tirramusu.
The redesign of a rundown art-framing store by BJB Architects made sure to showcase the original brick walls and floor boards, while creating something “really urban”.
This is Ms Drakopoulos first solo project, following the success of LuMi restaurant in Pyrmont, which she opened with chef Federico Zanellato in 2014.
Despite her Greek roots, Ms Drakopoulos has brought in authentic east-coast Italian hands, in the form of chef Alessandro Intini.
The 29-year-old suggested calling the restaurant ‘Noi’, meaning ‘us’ or ‘we’ in Italian, to represent the connections they hope to make within the team and the community.
“This is something I don’t think Petersham has seen,” Ms Drakopoulos said.
“This area is untapped. People have this preconceived idea that Petersham is the home of Portuguese chicken, but there are so many other cuisines. Our entire street is all very different (foods).”
Mr Intini trained as a butcher in his home town of Treviso, prosecco-country. His training in the art of meat forms part of the ethos of the restaurant.
“He definitely knows how to use the whole of the animal. Waste has become a big thing here in Australia, a lot of restaurants are hoping to minimise it … (we will) make use of the whole product,” Ms Drakopoulos said.
“We are using the entire pig and then making pigs head terrain.”
Mr Intini will introduce dishes from his own region, such as a risotto from Veneto called risi e bisi.
As well, the menu features Pansoti, which hails from Genoa where Mr Intini’s partner Federica Costa is from.
Pansoti is a pasta filled with spinach, ricotta and borage, served in a walnut sauce.
Noi will focus on seasonal produce, working with small local growers and foragers such as Epicurean harvest.
Ms Drakopoulos’ father and owner of Sydney Restaurant Group Bill Drakopoulos recently opened The Fenwick in Balmain, after winning the tender for the historic site.
He grew up in Newtown and she said, for her father, it was like coming home.
“It was a celebration, he was returning to the area,” she said.
Although Ms Drakopoulos grew up in south Sydney, she shares some of this pride of place.
“It’s quite nice that I am also coming into the inner west, and I get to lay my tracks here too,” she said.
From resturanteur-royalty, Ms Drakopoulos said her father lent her no favours. She spent her teen years working the floor in her father’s restaurants, manning the coffee machine from the age of 13.
After a brief stint in the kitchen following university, she found her way back to the floor and into management.
“It taught us so much,” she said, about working her way up through the ranks.
Noi restaurant, 108 Audley St, Petersham, Opens September 6
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