Beppe in Daylesford serves Italian pizza and pasta with style

Adding Italian style to Spa Country, Beppe brings pasta and pizza with pizzazz to Daylesford that’s well worth a road-trip visit.

Tagliatelle ragu Proscuitto and stracciatella pizza at Beppe in Daylesford are must-try dishes.

There’s Dean Martin-era jazz twinkling in the background to which the flickering candlelight seems to be swaying along in time. There are jars filled with colourful fruit and veg a-pickling, bottles of Birra Moretti and sangiovese standing to attention behind the bar, along with tins of tomatoes and even a raffia-covered bottle of Chianti or two ironically nodding to the past.

The tables are draped in linen, the fire is crackling — in short, Beppe looks every bit the part of an Italian trattoria but in the understated yet undeniably chic style for which Daylesford has become a spa country jewel.

This spring-brisk Thursday night, we’re joined by a few other tables of locals enjoying the last of the “ring of steel” quiet that has kept the tourist town in winter hibernation.

No doubt things are rather different now. On my first visit, in between lockdowns, Daylesford was positively jumping, filled with Saturday afternoon day-trippers and weekenders alike — and so it is again.

Cool in the country: Beppe brings Italian style to Daylesford

And if you are arriving for a cheeky weekend of freedom after work on a Friday night, you could do a whole lot worse than hit up Beppe for pizza to eat in or grab and Airbnb go. Taking over from what was fine diner Mercato — but was once upon a time the Athens Hotel in the 1860s — Beppe is the second venue for Liam Thornycroft and Samantha Mackley, who two years ago revitalised the brunch-lunch hub Cliffy’s Emporium just opposite.

Here they’ve added an easy pleasing Italian kitchen that complements the deli and local produce vibes of Cliffy’s, with added negroni sbagliatos to start, limoncellos to end and carafes of soave to go with the pizza and pasta-focused carte.

Basil, basil!: The pesto tagliolini

To start, I highly recommend doubling down on the carbs and ordering a serve of crostini.

Two large wodges of crunchy, oil-drizzled bread come topped with a terrific baccala mantecato — whipped salt cod — that’s a perfectly salty appetite whetter. The salted fish is creamy and garlicky, the minced black olives adding another layer of tang. Crunchy, salty and creamy, it ticks the taste triumvirate triumphantly ($15).

There’s a good line in pasta, with tagliolini nicely cooked al dente twirled around a punchy anchovy and tomato sauce, though the advertised breadcrumbs would’ve benefited from being added at the very end to retain their crunch ($26).

Sip and snack: antipasto and wine is mighty fine

Fat, cushiony pillows of gnocchi come swimming in a pumpkin puree/sauce, finely sliced asparagus adding a touch of spring that’s complemented by the crunch of pine nuts atop ($26)

But the pizzas are the real heroes here.

They can be picked up from a side window down a laneway to grab-and-go, but, if you can, better to eat them in so you’re as close to the wood-fired oven as possible. Charry and satisfyingly chewy, the semolina-dusted bases are the vehicle for a sharp tomato sugo and toppings that include nuggets of pork sausage, provolone cheese and peas ($26), and a knockout stracciatella (a creamy Italian cheese) teamed with prosciutto and topped with fresh cherry tomatoes and rocket just before serving ($28). The lovely sweet creaminess of the cheese offset the bursts of fresh tomato acid. It’s a rather inspired creation.

With a garlic-rich aioli to dunk crusts in — diet be damned — they’re a winner dinner no doubt.

Cannoli.

Salads are also a hit. A lemon-zippy Italian slaw makes a fresh tablemate to a pizza or two ($14), while the seasonal caprese salad is a very welcome way to dodge the tasteless tomato bullet. The spring version teams a generous ball of juicy buffalo mozzarella with double-shelled broad beans, peas and their shoots and a
grill-charred lime to squeeze over the lot. Fresh and vibrant.

An accessibly annotated wine list that looks to Italy while also celebrating Victoria, has glasses around the $12-14 mark, and good drinking by the bottle around $60.

Beppe doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but with its quiet Italian style teamed with country charm, after our long lockdown year it really does offer a slice of heaven.

BEPPE KITCHEN & BAR

32 Raglan St, Daylesford

beppe.com.au

Open: Thurs and Mon from 5.30pm; Fri-Sun from 3pm

Go-to dish: Stracciatella and prosciutto pizza