In this utterly dismal weather, I've found it difficult to get myself out of ugg boots and trackiesand into the car and out to a restaurant. Believe you me I never thought that I would say that either. But I can tell you I have found a solution to this issue, apart from cooking which I'm actually doing well, who woulda thought!
The solution is....drumroll..........dramatic pause................LUNCH! Genius.
What a blessed event lunch is, honestly such an underrated meal.
Because I have transformed into Madame Recluse at nights, I come out in the day. Very opposite to trend given the vampire hysteria that has hit the world. But this blog is not about vampires or films and thank God, glistening men and teenage angst really aren't my thing at all, I like to eat.
So where was I? Ah yes, lunch. It's cheaper, the sun is shining and with lunch, anything goes, even breakfast. I've found so many great lunch spots lately Deus Cafe in Camperdown for a steak sandwich, Makoto on Liverpool Street for tempura hand rolls and Cafe Sopra.
The cafe, attached to the famous grocer Fratelli Fresh has three convenient locations, Potts Point, Walsh Bay and Waterloo. My mr and I chose Potts Point.
There is a no bookings policy so while waiting in the queue, we had a look at the fresh ingredients on offer and were immediately taken back to our childhood. All the biscuits and sweet drinks, nonna had for us when we came over were there. I knew growing up these nibbles and weird tuna cans didn't come from a normal supermarket, so this is where we can get them now. My mr even bought the blood orange drinks he used to get as a the chubby italian boy.
And the food took us back as-well. We both opted for pasta, which I don't normally order out but I'm glad I did.
I ordered the linguine with olive oil, lemon, parsley, chilli and crispy bits of panagrattato. It was delicious, fresh, light and those crispy bits through-out the pasta sweetened the deal.
Mr ordered the fettucine with gorgonzola, I thought it would be a bit too rich, a thick pasta with a rich and creamy sauce and it was rich but with a bite.
And if you thought those plates of pasta were a carb overload our side of buttery, salted chat potatoes were completely necessary.
This place is definitely worth more than a one-time visit, it's home-food away from home with beautiful fresh ingredients.
www.fratellifresh.com.au
*I hope you'll forgive me for it, but I just had to do the whole 'Sopra' /'Opera' play on words, it was completely necessary.
