At the entrance to Circular Quay’s latest arrival, Flaminia, a black and white photo of a ship in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge adorns one wall.
“Flaminia was the ship that brought Marilyn [Annecchini]’s grandparents to Australia in ’59,” explains Chef Giovanni Pilu.
“Marilyn came across the photo in a book that her Nonna wrote about her life. There was this great photo and we went: ‘That’s it. That’s the name’.”
Flaminia is the latest project from Pilu and Annecchini, the renowned duo behind longstanding Northern Beaches institution Pilu at Freshwater.
The restaurant makes up one part of Accor’s significant Sydney restaurant and bar program overhaul. The hotel group recently announced its new in-house food and beverage group Table For alongside an all-star culinary cast. It’s since been all guns blazing with the November launch of El Vista (The Maybe Group, Pilu) and Bar Allora (Rosy Scatigna, Josh Donachie, and The Maybe Group).
The challenge for Pilu is to deliver something that feels new in a market saturated with Italian restaurants. “Sydney has an amazing Italian dining scene at the moment,” says Pilu, “but I feel like sometimes the menus are so similar – it’s always the same dishes. Flaminia is in the most beautiful port in Australia, and the most important one. So we thought, why don’t we do a menu that reflects the port cities of Italy?”
Set overlooking Circular Quay towards the Harbour Bridge, Flaminia honours the port heritage that links Italy and Australia with a menu that travels through five Italian cities, allowing guests to choose their own adventure.
“The five that we’re going to start with are Napoli, Venezia, Genova, Palermo, and Cagliari,” says Pilu. There are four dishes per port – an entrée, a pasta, a main, and a dessert.
“The idea is that you could choose to eat all from one port, or you can have an entree from Napoli, which is mozzarella in carrozza [a fried mozzarella sandwich with anchovy and red peppers], a pasta from Genova, which is paccheri alla scoglio [calamari, mussels, vongole, white fish, and cherry tomatoes], and a dessert from Cagliari, which is a timballa [almond crème caramel],” says Pilu. “So you can move around the ports to make your menu.”
In the centre of the dining room is a dedicated marble crudo bar with oysters, scallops, and a variety of fresh fish. Here, five different dressings based on the five port cities are available.
“For instance, in Napoli a lot of times they serve raw fish with olive oil and lemon. The Venetian way of serving fish is a bit more ‘agrodolce’, which means sweet and sour, especially with sardines,” says Pilu.
And while the opening menu features these five locations, they won’t be set in stone. “After three or four months we may decide to change one port,” says Pilu. “Instead of Venezia, we might have Portofino, Porto Venere, or one of the little ports.”
The marble bar is part of a broader sun washed, natural material palette that defines the space. Studio Gram’s design is both Mediterranean inspired and evocative of a ship’s interior, with panelled timber, textured stone, and shoreline tones.
Annecchini says that they wanted to create a relaxed, and welcoming space that would encourage people to return often.
“Diners can expect a different experience to Pilu, with a more playful, approachable take on Italian hospitality, where quality comes without formality and every visit feels like a Mediterranean afternoon,” she says.
It’s this elevated casual atomsphere that the team hopes will fill a gap in the Circular Quay dining market.
“Nothing has opened in so many years right on the edge of the upper that has not either been fine dining or touristy dining. There’s nothing in between with this amazing view that we’ve got,” says Pilu.
The restaurant is likely to draw a more expansive crowd to Pilu at Freshwater, the consequence of both location and demographic. Pilu points out that while many of his Pilu at Freshwater clientele live in the Northern Beaches, they also work in the city – meaning there will be some crossover of customers.
“But we’re hoping that the city, Inner West, and Eastern Suburbs crowds come as well. We feel it’s different and we’re ready for that,” says Pilu. “Most of the Northern Beaches they leave early in the morning and go to bed early at night. But the city is the other way around – there are tourists, there are people going everywhere, there are all different demographics. We can’t wait to dive in and see what happens.”
Flaminia is now open at Level 2, 61 Macquarie Street, Sydney in the Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour.
It is open Monday to Friday from 12 to 2.30pm and 5 to 10pm; Saturday from 12 to 3pm and 5 – 11pm; and Sunday from 12 to 3pm and 5 to 10pm.
Photography by Nikki To.
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