One of the best things about Sydney's food and drink scene is that everyone seems to be mates. They collaborate on festival menus, band together to open new venues and spend most of their free time hanging out at the bar of someone else's venue.
And continuing in this spirit of co-operation, Sydney's favourite wine guy and Rootstock festival co-director, Giorgio de Maria will join forces with Pasi Petanen, whose name will ring a bell from his time cooking wild Finnish tasting menus at Cafe Paci. The Italian sommelier and the Finnish chef will be hosting a month of pop-up dinners at Mecca in Alexandria called That's Amore, which are designed to celebrate the autumn harvest. Each dinner will be five courses for a very reasonable $75 a pop, with wine charged on consumption, which is great news if you sometimes struggle to keep up with a full matched offering.
The menus will depend on what's available at the markets each week but the dishes will have a strong Italian accent, with things like sourdough pasta on the short list. The wines are De Maria's area and he'll be uncorking unique, funky ferments with strong individual personalities.
Dates for the dinners are the first four Thursday, Friday and Saturdays in March, kicking off on Thu Mar 2 and running until Sat Mar 25, and you can book a table by emailing thatsamoreinsydney@gmail.com. And if you're the sort of person who doesn't like surprises, you can follow the menu development each week on instagram at @thatsamoreinsydney.
That's Amore pop-up dinners run from Thu Mar 2 - Sat Mar 25 at $75pp before drinks.
Need a quality wine fix before then? Check out the best places in Sydney to drink natural wine.