Rosso Antico

The vision for Rosso Antico comes from Riccardo Tedesco, a veteran of Sydney’s Italian food scene. He became obsessed with pizza after a visit to a family’s pizzeria in Italy.

The dough is true to Neapolitan tradition – thin, light and bulgy at the edge with gaseous veins. It’s got a rich bready flavour comparable to any fine sourdough, and it’s topped with a mixture of astutely sourced Australian and Italian produce.

While Tedesco is preparing 36-hour dough fermentations and assiduously pouring over every detail of the pizza prep, the rest of the menu relies on the skills of his mum, Gina. The incredibly fresh-faced nonna wakes up at 5am every day to make pasta, gnocchi and cakes. As well as making a 12-hour slow-cooked veal and pork ragu with fresh fettucine, and gnocchi with Napoletana sauce and fior di latte, Gina also crafts daily specials based on the regional food of her family.

The entire fit-out, which looks like a repurposed art gallery, was designed by Tedesco, and the menu, which he created in collaboration with Gina, is based on his childhood diet. The lunch menu delves further into Tedesco's ideal of cuccina povera, Italian peasant food.