MOLTO BENNE

Produce is key at Nido, where head chef Max Sharrad’s seasonal Italian menus and unbridled energy have cemented it a new Adelaide favourite.

“THE MOST AMAZING produce is available right now; it’s the best time to own an Italian restaurant!” says Max Sharrad, buoyant with enthusiasm. “The best tomatoes are coming into season, late-summer basil, capsicum, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms… they’re all at their absolute peak. Use them up to make a lasagne, or one of the brilliant recipes on these pages!”

As head chef of Nido, a relatively new contender on the Adelaide restaurant scene, Sharrad has had a big year. “We’ve been going so well, we found our feet as a restaurant and have a good balance in the menu now,” he says.

But that doesn’t mean he and his team are ready to take it easy, with Sharrad’s eyes fixed firmly on the horizon. To start, Sharrad’s wife and fellow chef Laura Cassai will be heading back to the MasterChef kitchen, then there are the collabdinners (“I can’t really say much at this point,” Sharrad explains, “but hopefully we’ll have the chance to work with international names as well as some local talent”) and a special closing night event for South Australia’s Tasting Australia program in April, with Adam Liston and friends. Plus there’s the pipe dream of a deli project bubbling away, too.

“Laura and I also have plans to take a trip to Italy at some point. We’re dreaming of going to Bologna, the home of pasta… well it’s not the home, it’s more like pasta mecca, really. I want to go over there and visit all the little pasta shops, learn from the nonnas, bring back some pasta-making tools and a few new ideas, new techniques, some new shapes,” he says. “We’ll just try to keep kicking goals.” We have no doubt they will.