When hatted chef Alessandro Pavoni and restaurateur Bill Drakopoulos splashed $3 million in March for the decommissioned Summer Hill post office where One Penny Red restaurant previously traded, it was part of a calculated long-term strategy to gain the hearts and mouths of the inner west.

On Friday, September 13, Pavoni and wife Anna finally swing open the doors at Postino Osteria. It completes some unfinished business for the chef. When he moved to Australia in 2003, Pavoni lived locally, with dreams of opening a restaurant in the inner west before he was lured north to launch the award-winning Ormeggio at The Spit, followed by Barangaroo, where he has a’Mare at Crown Sydney.

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In the lead-up to Postino Osteria’s opening, headlines talked of “pasta wars”, with a rival restaurateur questioning why Pavoni would open another Italian restaurant in Summer Hill. “They have a great name, but we think we’re doing something different,” Pavoni responds. “There’s plenty of people for everyone.”

Given his training at Michelin-star restaurants in Europe, and local reputation for hatted restaurants, there were also questions over its pitch. Postino is Pavoni’s ode to the osteria, Italy’s no-nonsense mix of wine and food. And looking after locals is his first concern.

“We’re only taking bookings for some of the tables. We don’t want locals thinking we are always booked, so you can pop in and sit up at the bar,” Pavoni says.

Postino Osteria isn’t wed to a specific region. Pavoni, who hails from the north of Italy, delivers a best-of osteria album, with regional dishes from Rome to Puglia.

A goat pasta dish with slow-cooked goat ragout, goat cheese, parsley and sun-dried tomatoes has proved a favourite during trial runs leading up to this week’s opening. So has a diminutive take on spaghetti meatballs. “The meatballs are only three grams, so you can get [a few] in a mouthful,” Pavoni says.

The Summer Hill post office reminded Pavoni of an old building in Italy, and early plans to give it a quick cosmetic makeover soon turned into a million-dollar renovation, bringing the total cost to $4 million. Modern metal fixtures were replaced by a look that plays more heavily on the building’s history. Eagle eyes will spot the hoist previously used to move mail bags.

Postino Osteria also lives in the shadow of the decade-long run of local favourite One Penny Red, which served its last spanner crab sourdough crumpet on New Year’s Eve. When the landlord placed the building on the market, locals feared it would be lost as a hospitality venue.

One Penny Red co-owner Nina Alidenes told the Herald the hatted restaurant wanted “to go out on top”, praising the “vibrant and close-knit” Summer Hill community.

Pavoni hopes Postino Osteria will fill that gap as both somewhere “to stop for a vino on your way home from work” or settle in for a meal, and become part of the community. “Our customers are part of our family,” he says of his clientele.

“Postino means postman, it also means small place,” Pavoni says. Hopefully, it delivers.

Open lunch Fri-Sun; dinner Wed-Sat

2 Moonbie Street, Summer Hill, postino.au