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PADDINGTON, SYDNEY: As an 86-year-old masthead, GRAZIA holds dear the storied traditions of its Italian heritage. The same can be said of the Cipri brothers—Joe, Camelo and Anthony—who spent their youths waiting tables and running kitchens in their family’s restaurants. Now, the brothers are the proud owners of Barbetta, a modern Italian café with a provedore and cooking school; and Cipri’s Italian, an almost 25-year-old trattoria hell bent on old world hospitality.
“We come from a family who are very food focused,” Joe Cipri tells GRAZIA. “We’re southern Italian—from Calabria—so when my parents came to Australia in the early 1960s, they bought all their know-how and recipes with them.”
This Christmas season—and after our 20th print edition hit shelves around the country— the GRAZIA team decided to hold its end of year lunch at Barbetta. And what a feast it was. On the menu, plentiful portions of homemade Italian fare: Cotoletta di Maiale, Linguine Granchio alla Vodka, Risotto del Giorno, Polpette, and the Best Ever Lasagna.
“The pasta is the absolute star because we make it fresh,” says Cipri. “We didn’t want to make the menu too sophisticated in any way. Barbetta is a café more than anything, and we are trying to bring back older dishes with a modern twist. It was never about creating dishes no one had ever heard of. Everything we do has an element of old-age southern Italian food.”
Almost Milanese diner-inspired, the space also includes a room for Italian cooking classes—which sell out frequently—and a provedore which stocks homemade sauces and condiments, direct from the boy’s mother’s recipe book. Think: Pesto al Peperoncino, Anchovy and Artichoke paste, Eggplant Giardiniera, Passata di Pomodoro, the list goes on. You can buy a gift box here, or pop into the café and restaurant for delicious pasta sauces.
This notion of good Italian recipes extends to Barbetta’s breakfast menu as well—the meal even Cipri admits Italians aren’t usually the best at.
“If Italians lack in any department, it’s the breakfast department,” he jokes. “But Australia excels in it. For us, coming come up with Italian flavours, but still making the menu breakfast-y, takes a bit of thought. You have to incorporate flavours that aren’t usually associated with a breakfast setting. You want to capture what people like in breakfasts, but give it an Italian twist.” This is more than achieved. View Barbetta’s breakfast menu here. You must try the Carbonara Australiana.
While good food will keep a loyal clientele, old school hospitality is equally as important, says Cipri. A local as well as a business owner, he is all too familiar with the less than impressive new wave of service.
“A lot of restaurants don’t offer hospitality like they used to. When you’ve been in this game for over 40 years, you have a different perspective,” says Cipri. “Hospitality used to be about hosting people, it wasn’t about doing numbers.
“I can honestly say that we know 90 percent of the people that walk into Barbetta and Cipri’s by first name. I know their favourite tables.”
At Cipri’s Italian next door, an 85-seater, guests are surrounded by black-and-white images of the Cipri family. There’s a wedding in Calabria, honeymoon pictures at St. Mark’s Square in Venice, and photos from when the boys were young. A connection and rapport with staff is instant, and the vibe is inviting, warm and friendly.
“I’ll say, ‘That’s my dad, that’s my mum and my grandparents. That’s my brother in the kitchen!” smiles Cipri. “This really is a family restaurant.”
Situated next door to one another on Elizabeth Street in Paddington, both restaurants offer different vibes dependent on the occasion.
“Cipri’s is the more grown-up, serious and, shall I say, more gentlemanly restaurant, whereas Barbetta is cheekier, youthful and more casual,” says Cipri.” Cipri’s is white tablecloths and is more luxe. It has that cosy, darker lit feel about it.”
If you do experience Cipri’s, Cipri recommends the seafood carpaccios which the chef changes every week, and unique staples like Seppie con Purea di Piselli (a cuttlefish slightly panfried with pea puree, squid ink croutons and tomato), and the Pappardelle con Ragu which hasn’t left the menu in 15 years.
“My mother is still very involved with food,” admits Cipri. “She has a backyard full of basil and collects it all to make beautiful pesto. That’s her: she’s either marinating olives or making pesto. Even Cipri’s Passata di Pomodoro is made on a handmade machine because my mother has refused to have an electric one. She doesn’t think it comes out as good. As such, we go on to sell 400-500 bottles a year in our restaurants.”
How’s that for heritage?
