CicciaBella Parramatta Square to open in September
Otto founder Maurice Terzini has long been established in the eastern suburbs and now he’s poised to bring his flair for southern Italian cuisine to a $2.7 billion western Sydney redevelopment.
Parramatta
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Restaurateur Maurice Terzini is expanding his CicciaBella Italian restaurant to the Parramatta Square redevelopment in September when he hopes to employ 70 staff at the southern Italian restaurant.
The man behind Icebergs Dining Room and Bar expects to see many familiar faces at the Walker Corporation eatery, which will feature alfresco tables in the 6000sq m public domain.
“We also have wonderful clientele at Icebergs from Parramatta and out west … so it was pretty much a no-brainer,’’ he said.
“I thought that seemed like a good opportunity and I know about quality and I also know about Parramatta.’’
Terzini, who was born in the Adriatic coastal city of Pescara, was approached by developers Lang and Chad Walker to bring his cooking finesse to the west, 16 years after they enlisted him to open celebrity haunt Woolloomooloo restaurant Otto.
“They invested in my restaurant at Otto and they do wonderful work,’’ he said.
“They invited me out to Parramatta and the CiccaBella I always felt I was going to do a number of them. This wasn’t something I sat down and planned. It was a little bit of improvisation.’’
Terzini and his team, including head chef Nic Wong, mixologist Matt Whiley, wine sommelier James Hird and general manager Dave Owen, are still crafting a menu for a mainly corporate crowd, one that might differ slightly to beachside Bondi’s CicciaBella but feature simple, intense flavours.
Or, fare that “my parents would recognise but not cook”.
“We appreciate the tradition but we want to bring things forward as well,’’ Terzini said.
“We’re not really that keen on expensive lists that take half an hour to read.’’
Terzini has vowed to continue his loyalty towards small producers for the 120-seat restaurant, which will house a small woodfire oven.
“I don’t feel like we have to change our product coming to Parramatta,’’ Terzini said.
He is also confident dining will bounce back after the coronavirus hiatus.
“Even with COVID, as far as I’m concerned I’ve always had a belief in the role that restaurants provide,’’ he said.
“It’s not just F and B (food and beverage). People do business there, they divorce, they party, they learn about food and learn about alcohol, and I’ve always been confident that role can’t be replicated at home.
“I believe people will re-engage in restaurants. They have already started to.”
Last week, Betty’s Burgers was the first to open in the underground pedestrian link connecting the train station to Parramatta Square.
Ruse Bar & Brasserie, Fishbowl, Harvey’s Hot Sandwiches, Threefold Pastry will also open at the link that attracts 40,000 passengers daily, in September.
The link also connects to the Parramatta Square 4 building, which opened in December.
Once the entire project wraps up, 23,000 employees will work there.