Nonna makes the pasta, but the food certainly isn’t old-fashioned at hip new Hobart eatery Chiosco
Come for the comforting carbs, stay for the buzzy atmosphere and laid-back vibes. Food writer Alix Davis says a meal at welcoming new Italian eatery Chiosco is indeed la dolce vita.
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Grandmothers are well known for their devotion to their grandchildren.
My grandmother used to make my favourite cake (a “pink icing cake”) whenever I asked for it and would happily provide a hot shower and breakfast after early-morning training sessions when I was at uni.
What she would not do, however, was sit on a bus for five hours to come and make fresh pasta for me.
That is pro-level grandmothering right there, but it’s exactly what Liv Pizzirani-Rand’s nonna Dina Pizzirani does to help her granddaughter serve up fabulously fresh pasta from Liv’s new culinary home at In The Hanging Garden.
While Nonna might be on hand to make traditional pasta, there’s nothing old-fashioned about the food on offer here.
We begin with a bolognese spring roll ($16). This deep-fried bundle of slow-cooked meaty goodness is topped with finely chopped jalapeños and a cloud of parmesan.
The spring roll pastry shatters as I bite into it and the bolognese sauce is rich and satisfying.
Liv says her grandmother wasn’t convinced when she first came up with the idea but is a true believer now.
This dish was a huge hit at last year’s Winter Feast – where Nonna pulled 14-hour shifts along with the rest of the Pizzirani crew.
Our second dish is a generous slice of loaded focaccia ($12) made by the bakery wizards of Six Russell Bakes, who are opening in Sandy Bay this year.
I love any kind of focaccia and when it’s topped with pesto, cheese, roasted tomato and more cheese, I love it even more.
Cheesy carbs pair perfectly with a few beverages and the relaxed atmosphere of In The Hanging Garden makes it easy to sit back and enjoy an afternoon or evening with friends.
In addition to the focaccia, there are garlic-fried halloumi chips ($14), cheesy garlic bread ($12) and a meatball sub slider with fries ($20). Drinks, including Italian cocktails and spritzes, wine and beer, are available at Chiosco or there’s another bar just a few steps away.
Personal research in Italy last northern summer confirmed that limoncello spritzes ($20) are very much a thing, here, they’re made with Tasmanian limoncello from micro liquori maker Osare.
Although she spent her childhood eating olives from a jar while scampering under tables at her grandparents’ restaurant in Devonport, Liv originally had no intention of following them into hospitality.
Instead, she had a full scholarship to do a law degree in Melbourne and just wanted a gap year before she began.
One year turned into seven and, by the time she came home, Liv knew she wanted to work in food.
She launched a food van in Tasmania’s North-West, and then a stand at 2023’s Winter Feast turned into an invitation to join the scene at In The Hanging Garden, the perfect way to get her feet on the ground in Hobart.
And, so, to the pasta.
There are lovely piles of fresh pasta sitting on the prep bench of the open kitchen-in-a-container and these are transformed into generous mains or plates to share.
The umami butter pasta ($20) with lobster ($26) is a wonderfully rich dish of al dente strands coated with emulsified butter.
The lobster has been chopped and sauteed to provide a little crunch that’s aided and abetted by flash-fried capers and crispy fried shallots.
And there’s just a tiny amount of heat in there too.
We can’t resist the carbonara ($24), another well-sized portion that’s been artfully arranged with a raw egg yolk in its centre.
We toss the egg through the piping hot pasta to complete the sauce and dig in.
Although we tend to think of carbonara as a classic Italian dish, it has a relatively short history and didn’t exist in print before the 1950s.
The best guess is that it was invented in 1944 when well-provisioned Allied forces descended on Rome.
Containing nothing more than eggs, guanciale (cured pork cheek) and pecorino, this dish is comforting and delicious.
Liv has put her spin on it by using prosciutto rather than guanciale and adding a little pangrattato on top.
While we were happy to stir the raw yolk through the pasta, Liv mentions that she’s thinking about using a cured yolk instead and finely grating it over the top.
Come for the comforting carbs, stay for the buzzy atmosphere and laid-back vibes. A meal at Chiosco is indeed la dolce vita.
CHIOSCO BY PIZZIRANI’S CUCINA
In The Hanging Garden
112 Murray St, Hobart
Opening hours: Wed – Sun, 11am – late
ON THE MENU
Bolognese spring roll, $16; loaded focaccia, $12; umami butter pasta with lobster, $26; pasta
carbonara, $24
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