One of these things is not like the others: the Chanel boutique, Rolex, Hermes, and Dior on the next corner, and then there’s Fabbrica (factory in Italian), a fresh pasta and panini shop tucked below street level on this rarified stretch of King Street in the CBD. Haute couture and carb-heavy comforts aren’t obvious kinsfolk, but at Fabbrica they are taking the tailored approach to weeknight pasta. Behind the big glass window the pasta factory is working full tilt, extruding fresh mafaldine, trottole, spaghetti, rigatoni, and pici. They sell it by the 100g and display it in a glass counter the way opal traders display precious stones.
They say you can’t have things fast, good and cheap, but those people haven’t tried the Fabbrica lasagne. Now, there’s no question that $20 is not really a cheap lunch in a city that loves a $5 banh mi, but for restaurant pasta it’s a steal. You get seven tender sheets of pasta layered with a rich beef cheek and cavolo nero ragu and a restrained hand on the cheese. You also get it almost instantly. Even faster is their ability to sling a sambo on a plate and serve it at one of the high tables. The ciabatta roll has a crust that nails the balance between crisp and chewy in a way that reminds you that bread can be a star in its own right. Inside, maybe it’s a generous base of butter; sweet and sour pickles, fermented chilli and gossamer thin slices of mortadella ($16). Maybe it’s a breaded veal cutlet, or prosciutto and goat’s cheese – the sandwiches change everyday. Need something you could hoik into your mouth while running between meetings? A slice of cherry tomato focaccia laden with olive oil and salt is just the ticket, followed by a sugared doughnut.
In the beforetimes, Matthew Swieboda and Nathanial Hatwell’s Love Tilly Devine and Dear Sainte Eloise were top of the list for wine bar action in the city. They’re still excellent, but social distancing means getting into a teeny laneway bar is even harder so Swieboda and Hatwell have ensured that they’re stocking a back wall of minimal intervention wines at Fabbrica to really nail that wine bar vibe at home.
Scott McComas-Williams, when he isn’t in the kitchen at Ragazzi over in Angel Place is captain of the pasta party here. Can’t get a booking at the restaurant? Grab a ready-made cacio e pepe or ragu sauce to go with your fresh pasta and recreate the experience at home. Feel like flexing your own culinary muscles? Fresh artichokes dare you to undertake their laborious preparation, while broad beans in the shells are doing a cameo for an upsettingly short season so get them in boiling water followed by an ice bath, pronto.
Cameron Birt is the fourth member of the Fabbrica team and his day job importing fine foods means he gets to stock the shelves here with smoked paprika from Spain, saffron threads, smoked red gum salt and the fanciest dried chickpeas in town.
Fabbrica is the city worker’s wingman. You get the lunch you want, but at the speed you need it; they’ll do all the prep for dinner but let you take the credit; and they’ll ensure your glass is full of the good stuff if that’s the kind of day you’re having. They’re manufacturing the best possible version of your daily life, which is exactly the kind of factory we all need right now.