Matteo is just a few weeks old, but already has a great deal of character. And talk about a babe magnet – every blonde in Double Bay must be here, oohing and aahing at him as he squirms in his mother's arms at the table next to mine.

Proud papa, Orazio D'Elia, looks on from the kitchen pass, pleased as punch with both his new son, Matteo, and his even newer restaurant, Matteo.

D'Elia, who recently left his own first name at Maurice Terzini's Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta in Bondi, has now thrown his lot in with Sydney hospitality duo, Eddie Levy and Adam Abrams, in their takeover of the old Limoncello site. He knows the place well, having been head chef at Limoncello long before his move to Bondi.

Young Matteo is not yet up for the pizza, but just about everyone else is. D'Elia lists 15 different types, all using the doppia lievitazione (double-proving) technique to produce a lighter, more digestible pizza in the style of Naples. 

It results in a pleasingly crisp-edged powderpuff of a cornicione (crust), while the base is deliberately soft – so soft you can't pick it up without it flopping everywhere. Now I know why everyone is eating their pizza with knife and fork.

Toppings are well-judged; whether smoked mozzarella, crisp pancetta, potato and rosemary on the rustica ($24); or nicely acidic San Marzano tomato with nothing more than globs of fresh, springy, lactic buffalo mozzarella and a few leaves of fresh basil on the bufalina ($25).

The wood-fired pizza oven takes pride of place in the centre of the white-washed, low-ceilinged, light-filled room, stretching from an open terrace on Bay Street to a covered garden terrace out back.

Ian Nessick's textural interior design runs to blonde American oak tables and chairs and quite lovely hand-rolled porcelain light fittings that evoke fine furls of pasta dough.

Much on the menu will be familiar to Da Orazio fans (Abruzzese arrosticini lamb skewers, for instance) and even more to old Limoncello regulars. It's as if d'Elia has ripped himself off, if you can even do that.

There's also veal tartare with stracciatella cheese, whole salt-crusted snapper, and family-size lasagne to share, which is a cute idea.

Good bets include fleshy, lightly cooked mussels with wilted cime di rapa greens and soupy cannellini beans ($22) topped with two soft, puffy breadsticks straight from the wood-fired oven.

Short, rolled, Pugliese capunti pasta ($28) comes with an overly shreddy ossobuco ragu (I may have reached my tipping point regarding pulled meats) but the cavatelli-like pasta is extremely moreish, with a good chew.

Long-boned tomahawk lamb chops ($32) show there's a decent grill in the kitchen, and tiramisu ($12) is rich, creamy and boozy.

Matteo (the restaurant) is already a crowd-pleaser, packed with champagne-fuelled birthday parties and fams-with-prams by day, and the cocktail set by night. Classic Italian cocktails and spritzes share the list with Italian varietals including a ripe, chunky 2013 Cantine Ionis Primitivo di Manduria ($76).

All very pleasant, without being extraordinary; but then, extraordinary isn't called for in a large, high-volume, pizza and pasta palace in the heart of Double Bay. With Matteo, d'Elia has come full circle, because this is Limoncello for the next generation. He's even provided the next generation.

The lowdown

Best bit: Winter sunshine on the front terrace.

Worst bit: Big tables of very loud people.

Go-to dish: Bufalina pizza with buffalo mozzarella, basil, San Marzano tomatoes, $25.

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide. This rating is based on the Good Food Guide scoring system.