Ashley-Maree Kent has her hands full these days.

Most nights of the week, Ash can be spied in the kitchen of her cherished Coorparoo trattoria Ramona, where she shapes – by hand – a varied assortment of traditional pasta styles, served alongside pizze and antipasti. At the beginning of 2024, Ash opened Bar Rocco, Ramona’s casual osteria-style sibling, next door. With two venues to look after and a labour-intensive ethos at the core of both, when we say Ash has her hands full, we mean it – literally.

But that’s not stopping her from doing more. Later this year, Ashley will open Sbagliata – a 174-sqm, 120-seat restaurant taking shape in the heart of Portside Wharf. The venue, which joins the riverside precinct as part of its ongoing $20-million revamp, is a large and ambitious undertaking. But Ashley sees Sbagliata as an opportunity to not only do something new and exciting, but also make things easier on herself from an operations standpoint.

“I was thinking about how we could make it complement Ramona and help Ramona at the same time,” says Ashley. “I spend about four hours a day making pasta – I wouldn’t be able to find someone to replace me straight away, so I had to kind of think of a plan moving forward that doesn’t affect Ramona.”

So, in addition to being a dining destination, Sbagliata will double as a production hub for Ashley’s other venues and as a retail pasta outlet.

“Our plan is to open a separate pasta kitchen, where we’ll actually start to make pasta for Ramona,” reveals Ash. “Whoever takes over from me at Ramona is still going to do a couple of pasta shapes there, probably more filled pastas and more intricate pasta shapes, but Sbagliata will also supply Ramona.”

In the pasta kitchen, Ash and her team will pump out a broad array of pasta varieties using traditional, hands-on techniques. Guests will be able to see the chefs working day and night, adding an element of theatre to lunch and dinner proceedings. An assortment of shapes will headline Sbagliata’s pasta menu, which will be divided loosely into categories. There will be a clutch of hand-shaped pastas and then another group of pasta al bronzo, or bronze-cut pasta – varieties that are extruded through bronze dies (perforated metal plates that cut and shape the pasta). Ash also reveals that there may be a few pasta al torchio varieties, which are made using a bigolaro – a style of bronze-die manual press. Most, if not all, of these will be available retail, allowing locals to add some quality, hand-crafted goodness into their at-home cooking routine.

“It’s about allowing myself to be in a bigger space to produce better shapes and to have a proper pasta program to teach people,” says Ash. “[Sbagliata will] try to give people a little bit of ‘wow’ factor and a better understanding that it’s actually time consuming to bring that pasta to the plate.”

In addition to the pasta menu, a Sbagliata will also boasta sharp focus on fire cooking. The kitchen will be equipped with a wood and coal grill will turn out a selection of hot entrees, two proteins (one bone-in and one bone out) and two fish options, plus vegetarian- and vegan- friendly items. As for drinks, expect an extensive wine list featuring Italian and Australian vino, plus a range of cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks.

On the design front, Ashley is working with Alkot Studio to fashion Sbagliata’s aesthetic, which Ash says is influenced by a sense of nostalgia and a dash of femininity.

“Design wise, I kind of wanted a little bit of nostalgia,” reveals Ash. “We have this houndstooth curtain that’ll be inside and when I look at it I think of David Jones in the 90s. We’ve also got some old-school cork floor tiles as well, and we’ve got a fair bit of stone that is a bit beige, but has pink running through it.

“I didn’t want to go too girly on the space, because that’s just not me. But I did want it to be a little bit lighter and brighter than your old-school traditional Italian restaurants – I wanted to stem from that and add a little bit of femme to it.”

In addition to the main dining space, Sbagliata will boast a bar area with casual seating and its own snack menu, while a breezy alfresco space will be furnished with couches and banquettes with small tables. There will also be a private-dining room.

When it’s all said and done, Sbagliata might turn out to be Ashley’s most personal project yet (“Sbagliata means mistaken female – it reminds me of my childhood of being just a really bad kid,” says Ash, with a laugh). But, like with Ramona and Rocco before it, Sbagliata will be for the people – the locals seeking something close and comfy to enjoy on a whim.

“I want a comfortable space where people can come and eat, no matter what they wear and no matter what they’re doing,” says Ash. “Even though Portside is on the water and just on the other side of The City, I still look at it as a neighbourhood area. You still need to focus on your locals.”

Sbagliata will open to the public in August, joining Portside newcomers such as Fosh, Rise Bakery, Bird’s Nest and Rosé Gelateria, as well as other upcoming arrivals like Portside Social and Uncle Wang. Stay tuned for more.