RESTAURANT NEWS
NEW YORK A year after opening Marta, Danny Meyer’s Manhattan pizzeria within The Redbury Hotel, chef Nick Anderer has branched out with East Village spin-off Martina.
There’s no table service, but while you wait for your pizza you can snack on zucchini with mint and chilli, say, or supplì, Rome’s answer to Sicily’s arancini. Meyer is behind the burger behemoth Shake Shack, but Martina is perhaps more fine casual than fast. Thin-crust pizze are topped with the likes of kale and black olives, Champagne is sold by the half-bottle, Cappelletti Spritzes are on tap and the soft-serve is fior di latte.
MELBOURNE Three years after it closed for renovation, Lygon Street landmark King & Godfree reopens in November. In addition to the existing, now updated and expanded deli and wine store, the new K&G will include rooftop and cellar bars, an espresso bar and a 120-seat bistro that will focus on “simple and authentic Italian flavours placed in a modern context,” says co-owner Jamie Valmorbida. (See page 62 for more on Carlton.)
BRISBANE Sichuan Bang Bang welcomes younger sibling Bang
Bang Bar to the former Pizzeria Violetta site in Paddington. The new digs – also from restaurateur Renata Roberts – specialises in Neapolitanstyle pizze and Sichuan-inspired snacks including oysters with chilli oil and black vinegar, and assorted rou jia mo on wood-fired buns.
The cocktails lean herbal, like the Evening Thyme with dark rum, thyme and ginger beer, or a rosemaryinfused Bang Fashioned, and the interior channels a luxe boudoir with plenty of red velvet and gold.
SYDNEY After closing Zambo just seven months after he opened it at the former Marque site on Crown Street in Surry Hills, Matteo Zamboni has been snatched up by Jonah’s at Whale Beach. Zamboni has taken over from chef Logan Campbell and brings with him a more “Italian-ish” menu, with highlights including gnocchi with ricotta salata and smoked egg yolk, and white chocolate and sage ice-cream with burnt butter and Davidson’s plum.