Food is not the focus of hospitality heavyweight Maurice Terzini and son Sylvester Terzini’s casual new Potts Point venue, Snack Kitchen, which opened Monday.

Rather, it takes inspiration from the lo-fi regional Italian bars of Terzini Snr’s childhood, where a venue’s culinary offering often took a back seat to the sense of community it fostered.

“As a teenager we’d go and drink wine with our friends, while the parents or the grandparents sat eating at another table,” Maurice Terzini says. “The food was there, but it was simply a means for people to be social.”

So it is at the 40-seat Snack Kitchen, a versatile space as suited to a quick afternoon aperitivo with colleagues as a late-night meal with friends. Its tight menu features simple European snacks using the same producers as Terzini’s two-hatted Bondi venue, Icebergs Dining Room and Bar.

“It’s the seasonality we’re pushing,” Terzini says.

“Lots of salty snacks that go great with a glass of wine: the best tomatoes we can get, anchovies, Harry’s Bar carpaccio [a famous Venetian dish of thinly sliced raw beef], and fritto misto [fried mix] with gribiche and lemon.

“It’s just good quality produce, done simply, by a single chef, and within 10 minutes you’re in there having fun, laughing, and eating without even thinking about it.”

Simplicity is at the heart of the operation: walk-ins only, a small selection of classic Euro-style drinks (think spritzes and martinis, aperitifs and digestifs), and an “almost anti-designer” white interior featuring personal photos, drawings and clippings from the Terzini family’s collection.

The wine list is small but thoughtfully designed, with around 10 options, each available by the glass. Each month, Snack Kitchen will hero one Australian wine producer. To begin with, the list will feature Tyrell’s Wines, followed by Denton Wine (Yarra Valley) and Patrick Sullivan (Gippsland).

“After steering some big ships, I feel as if I’m going back to the start of my career with a simple concept, it’s coming full circle,” Terzini says, referencing Caffe e Cucina, the Melbourne venue he launched in 1988.

But it’s Sylvester Terzini who will be at the helm of this ship. It is the culmination of his 15 years of experience within the hospitality industry, at venues such as Icebergs and Napier Quarter in Melbourne’s Fitzroy, plus working vintages with winemaker Patrick Sullivan.

“It’s f---ing unreal,” Maurice Terzini says. “It’s just such an easy place to work, and sit in, and enjoy.”

Open Tue-Sat 3pm−late.

95 Macleay Street, Potts Point, snackkitchen.com.au