SELLOUT FOR ORZO OPENING
THERE’S little chance of a silent night for restaurateurs Matt and Dayna Jefferson as they prepare to debut their second Broadbeach restaurant on Friday.
Contemporary Italian eatery Orzo will open in Oracle Boulevard exactly seven years after the couple’s acclaimed Social Eating House, and its first service is already sold out.
“We’re hoping that’s a good omen,” Mr Jefferson said. “It will be busy – especially with Christmas and four kids – but we wanted to do it while we were young and crazy enough.”
Leveraging the talents of two sponsored chefs who had been working at Social Eating House, the pair promise it’s not just another Italian restaurant.
“We love Italian food, so we’re focusing on that,” Mr Jefferson said.
“No pizzas just really beautiful pasta – a lot of coastal dishes, a lot of seafood.
“There’s just no one really making handmade pasta around and we have the most amazing Italian chefs so we thought we may as well get them using their talent.”
Native Australian ingredients supply the twist on tradition.
“The native pepper berries instead of just cracked pepper bring it to life, or the bush tomatoes give the gnocchi that really beautiful sweet-sour flavour,” Mr Jefferson said.
“The first time our chef from Rome made (the pasta) with native pepper he couldn’t believe it – he said it was the best thing he’d ever eaten.”
Designed for year-round holiday vibes, Mrs Jefferson said the Broadbeach base made sense.
“We originally thought we’d head south and inspected a couple of sites at Mermaid Beach, but then we slept on it for a couple of nights and thought we’d be crazy to take another restaurant out of Broadbeach because so many have closed down here,” Mrs Jefferson said.
“We want to keep Broadbeach alive, keep the dining options here.”
Orzo will be open for lunch and dinner daily.