Hatted Surry Hills restaurant Bastardo has opened a spin-off, Trattoria Bastardo, at Philip Street in Sydney’s CBD, with a selection of new menu items and a dedicated aperitivo session from 3-5pm.

It takes over the former Continental Deli site, adding bold artwork by Mikey Freedom, cosy leather booth seating and an old-school Italian colour scheme.

Co-founder Ben Milgate tells Good Food the amped-up menu features grilled scotch fillet with bagna cauda and fries (“like an Italian steak frites”) and rigatoni calabrese with spicy pork mince and ’njuda (“we ran it as a special in Surry Hills, but here it’s finally made the cut”).

There are also Bastardo classics from head chef Rudy Ones (Continental Deli), such as mafalda pasta with blue swimmer crab, roma tomato and chilli oil ($40). And the aperitivo hour is set to draw in the corporate crowd with a snack menu of pizze fritte, cured meats and burrata to accompany after-work drinks.

Bastardo’s owner, the Porteno Group, opened Continental Deli in the site in 2018, but it didn’t quite capture the zeitgeist of the Newtown original.

Meanwhile, back in Newtown, Porteno Group’s expansions are set to continue, according to co-founder Elvis Abrahanowicz.

“We’ve been working on something for a while in that little precinct around Continental Deli,” he says.

“There’s four little shops in a row … and we’re planning to open three separate restaurants there by the end of the year.”

The plans are awaiting council approval. More information is expected in the following months.

The opening of Trattoria Bastardo underscores a key Sydney restaurant trend: replicating existing brands, particularly Italian.

“If you are recreating something, you’re not spending time researching glassware, cutlery and service style,” says Icebergs co-owner Maurice Terzini. “The simplicity of Italian food makes it easier to move than, say, Asian.”

Other expanding Italian brands include Totti’s, which recently opened in Lorne, Victoria, after spreading from Bondi to Rozelle and even the new Allianz Stadium, Fabbrica, which has just opened a pop-up in Balmain, and Italian Street Kitchen, which opens next month in Parramatta, its eighth location.

The secret when multiplying a quality brand is considered growth, says Terzini. Get it right and you’re satisfying a new market, but misfire and risk alienating Australian diners, who are suspicious of businesses with the sniff of chain restaurant about them.

The veteran restaurateur has witnessed the challenge firsthand with his CicciaBella brand. Terzini sold the original in Bondi and recently closed the Parramatta branch. “Maybe I should’ve replicated it (more closely),” he says.

Trattoria Bastardo is open for lunch and dinner Mon-Fri.
167 Phillip Street, 02 99227347, porteno.com.au/bastardo-cbd