NewsBite

Advertisement

Matteo Downtown 2.0's pizza really satisfies

Terry Durack
Terry Durack

Matteo Downtown's kitchen features a pair of wood-fired ovens.
Matteo Downtown's kitchen features a pair of wood-fired ovens.Edwina Pickles

13.5/20

Italian$$

The idea of going out for dinner to a big, buzzy Italian in the heart of the CBD is still so good that I swap my tee for a proper shirt, with buttons and everything.

But it's hard not to feel overdressed when groups of three or four gym buddies come in, still in their workout gear, knocking back cocktails and pizza as if gyms and restaurants had never vanished from their lives.

That's probably good, though, isn't it? The owners of Matteo Downtown say they want to shift the dialogue about dining out away from it being an extravagance or an event to it being an essential ritual enjoyed any time.

Advertisement
Bistecca 300g rump cap with burnt onion, rosemary jus.
Bistecca 300g rump cap with burnt onion, rosemary jus.Edwina Pickles

After being closed for the past seven months – and nearly all of 2020 – Eddie Levy and Adam Abrams of Matteo Double Bay and the new Osborn House resort in Bundanoon reopened Downtown in March.

It's been musical chairs in the kitchen, with a new executive chef (Giovanni Astolfoni), and head chef (Adam Szymankiewicz) moving across from the grandeur of Seta, and former chef Orazio D'Elia​ returning to Bondi to open Da Orazio.

The chairs themselves – all 270 of them – remain unchanged, whether you're dining on the covered terrace, in the circular bar, or in the vast dining room with its parquetry floor and half-curtained windows.

Downtown pizza with tomato, fior di latte, prosciutto, truffled stracciatella and rocket.
Downtown pizza with tomato, fior di latte, prosciutto, truffled stracciatella and rocket.Edwina Pickles
Advertisement

And yes, the two formidable wood-fired Forni Visciano ovens originally brought from Naples are still here. That's a relief. What has changed, however, is what comes out of them.

While D'Elia specialised in the softer, floppier Neapolitan-style pizza, Astolfoni and pizza chef Marco Terracciano are all about the crisper, thinner Roman style.

Their dough is based on the high hydration and long leavening technique (up to 72 hours) of Roman pizzaiolo Angelo Iezzi, and creates a clean-flavoured base that's still light and pliable enough to fold and eat in the hand.

Brodetto di pesce (pastry-topped seafood stew).
Brodetto di pesce (pastry-topped seafood stew). Edwina Pickles

It makes the semolina-dusted Downtown pizza ($32) really satisfying, with a nicely acidic tomato sugo and creamy fior di latte, the prosciutto, rocket, and truffled stracciatella laid over the top clinging like damp silk to skin. A tray of chilli oil and dried peperoncini is brought – always a nice touch.

Advertisement

Then I do something really dumb and order the brodetto di pesce ($89 for two), which I know is fish stew but don't know it's sealed with an entire pizza's worth of dough. It's brought to the table and ceremoniously cut open, and you're meant to let the crust drop into the runny capsicum-red broth and soak it up.

Even without the carb overload, it's not a total triumph, with the prawns, clams, mussels and fish feeling bitsy and overcooked (some curls of squid survive and are a highlight).

Tartare di manzo with hand-cut Riverene beef.
Tartare di manzo with hand-cut Riverene beef. Edwina Pickles

Back for lunch, I steer clear of pizza and the serious wood-fired steaks (1.5 kilogram Riverine tomahawk, $190) and start with a textural beef tartare ($32). Good call.

The hand-chopped and well-seasoned Riverine beef rump cap is bright with pickles, capers and anchovies, and comes with egg yolk for mixing, and scrunchy wood-fired schiacciata crispbread.

Advertisement

House-made gnocchi with an Abruzzese-style lamb and red capsicum ragu ($36) is tick-the-box comfort food, but bringing pre-grated cheese is a bit of a downer. Wine-wise, a Tarrawarra barbera ($90) rocks less tannin than its Italian equivalent and is quite delicious.

Gnocchi with braised lamb shoulder, capsicum, thyme.
Gnocchi with braised lamb shoulder, capsicum, thyme.Edwina Pickles

Matteo Downtown is the sort of dining room you want to be in right now, and the pizza is a strong point, but I can't get excited about much else. Not the burrata with grilled zucchini ($26), nor the "urban green foraging" salad ($14), and not the Coppa Downtown ($18) of fior di latte ice-cream, whipped cream and cold slices of plum.

Exec chef Astolfoni is back in Italy for family reasons – perhaps that's an issue. Or maybe it's not meant to be exciting. As the city's pulse starts to quicken, maybe being a big, back-to-basics, mid-market Italian restaurant that feeds people without making a big deal of it, is enough. Maybe.

The low-down

Advertisement

Vibe Business buzz by day, pizza and cocktail scene by night.

Go-to dish Downtown pizza with prosciutto, truffle stracciatella and rocket ($32).

Drinks Italian cocktails with a twist, Menabrea on tap, and an impressive Italian varietal-heavy wine list.

Continue this series

50 of Sydney’s best long lazy lunch spots that go beyond the sandwich
Up next
Lamb neck shawarma with tarator, pickles, chermoula and flatbread.

Don't miss the lamb at Sydney's ambitious Aalia

Come for the architecture, stay for the lamb at this new Middle Eastern-inspired restaurant from the team behind Nour.

Mini passionfruit madeleines.

Sydney's frou-frou-free Loulou is a flexible bistro for uncertain times

This charming and reassuring French bistro has a lot of other things going on as well, reviews Terry Durack.

Previous
A schooner of session lager suits the retro Australian-Chinese cuisine.

It's a prawn toast party at Lucky Prawn

The retro Australian-Chinese bistro inside Marrickville's Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre might be Sydney's most popular new restaurant.

See all stories

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up
Terry DurackTerry Durack is the chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and Good Food.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement

Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/goodfood/sydney-eating-out/matteo-downtown-sydney-20220405-h22x2d.html