Italian eatery Bar Benevento opens in Town Hall - hospitality
Restaurateurs and brothers Anthony and Julian Izzillo have launched Bar Benevento in Sydney’s CBD, which opens its doors for the very first time today.
“Our nonno came to Australia from Benevento in 1953, post war, and spent five years working and saving before he could bring our nonna, dad and uncle over,”
The pair are experienced operators, having launched Wildfire and de Vine Food and Wine, but their latest project is a partnership with Kosta Papanikitas (The Fermantalists) and Head Chef Tim Fisher.
Perched right in the heart of Town Hall, the Italian eatery is located on the ground floor of the Adina Town Hall Hotel on the corner of Kent and Bathurst, and is serving breakfast, lunch, coffee, sweets and aperitivo until 3pm during weekdays.
Bar Benevento is an homage to the Izzillo brothers’ father, and has been named after the city where he was born. “Our nonno came to Australia from Benevento in 1953, post war, and spent five years working and saving before he could bring our nonna, dad and uncle over,” says Julian.
“So much of what we grew up eating came from those early years, when they started with nothing and slowly built up a life here, so bringing those flavours into Bar Benevento feels like a special way of carrying that story forward.”
Fisher has put together a food offering inspired by Southern Italian dishes, with the ricotta and egg yolk ravioli with Strega-infused hollandaise sure to become a signature. There’s also tagliata steak and eggs and a breakfast antipasto with a 6-minute egg and gravlax.
There’s plenty of pasta on the menu for lunch plus weekly specials as well as chicken cotoletta, panini and a selection of meats and cheeses.
“We’ve tried to create hero dishes that haven’t been done in Sydney before, whether that’s boiling and baking our taralli like a bagel so it’s soft and warm for dipping, or swapping coffee for wild mint and saffron Strega in our tiramisu,” says Fisher.
The drinks menu features plenty of Amaro, with the venue stocking more than 300 options sourced from around the globe, as well as wines from 20 Italian regions.
Bar Benevento is open from 7am until 3pm Monday to Friday and from 7am until 11:30am on weekends. The venue will launch dinner service soon, with more info to come.