Sit down to authentic, nonna-approved Italian at Yeronga’s Osteria Epoca
Wipe that Dolmio grin off your face – true Italian flavour can’t be found in a jar of red wine and herb sauce. To get the most authentic experience one must immerse themselves in the true home-style roots of Italian cuisine. The concept for Osteria Epoca in Yeronga was born at the dinner table, where helpings of homemade dishes brought endless happiness and satiated appetites. If you are keen to taste the real deal, Osteria Epoca is now open and is serving up primo pasta and plenty of gustoso gastronomic delights.
When chef Lorenzo Nobilio pondered his next hospitality venture, he decided to draw upon his childhood as inspiration. The son of a migrant family, Lorenzo (formerly of Ash + Monties and Bistro Alegria) fondly reminisces about the food he grew up with – dinners of homemade pasta, the rich flavours of marinated vegetables, and school lunches of salumi. It was these experiences that have informed Osteria Epoca, Lorenzo’s new restaurant nestled in the leafy surrounds of Yeronga. Osteria Epoca honours the traditional approach to authentic Italian cuisine, imbuing each dish with happiness-invoking flavour across a fresh and light menu. The space features not only a charming dining space, but also a sophisticated bar serving carafes of decanted Australian and Italian wine, grappa, Italian beers and cocktails as well as an alimentari, which stocks a huge range of goods that are incorporated throughout Osteria Epoca’s food menus.
The dinner menu is divvied up into sections that follow the natural path of any home-cooked Italian meal. Diners start their feast by nibbling on a range of marinated vegetables, stuzzichini and salumi (salt-cured pancetta, anyone?), while also wetting their whistle with a negroni or Aperol spritz. The antipasti portion includes dishes of beef carpaccio, chicken liver parfait and whipped salt cod, which is followed by the main event – primi and secondi. Pasta is kneaded, cut and rolled in house and served in all of the classic styles (spaghetti with clams, pappardelle with red wine ox tail ragu, mezzi rigatoni with basil and pine nut pesto), while mains such as slow-roasted pork belly, roast lamb breast and whole-pan roast poussin are certified show-stoppers. Dishes are intended to share (just like Lorenzo’s family dinners were), but if you are hard-pressed to make a choice then let the kitchen decide with Nonna’s Table banquet. Osteria Epoca also opens for breakfast and lunch, serving chocolaty Veneziano coffee, housemade gnocchi with pancetta, continental breakfast boards and sauteed mushrooms with grilled sopressa, fried eggs and polenta.
Everything on the menu gets nonna’s tick of approval. If you have a sudden craving for pasta, head to the Stumble Guide to find opening hours and contact information.
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