Paisano & Daughters’ Australia Street precinct has seen a lot of action in recent times, with all-day vegetarian diner Flora and seafood bar Mister Grotto launching in February. And now, the fourth and final restaurant in this long-envisioned hub, Osteria Mucca, has opened alongside the venue that started it all, Continental Deli. This latest venture is a 50-seat Italian restaurant celebrating regional classics, family recipes and the beauty of traditional craftsmanship.
Paying homage to the storefront’s legacy as a former butcher shop, Osteria Mucca showcases refined meat-centred dishes, charcuterie and handmade pasta — after all, ‘mucca’ is the Italian word for ‘cow’. Leading this kitchen concept is head chef Janina Allende (Alberto’s Lounge, Pellegrino 2000), whose menu serves as a love letter to old-world Italian techniques and recipes.
Expect hearty, flavour-forward dishes like gnudi with brown butter and sage; lamb tartare with rocket and pecorino; veal tongue with salsa verde; and house-made sausage. With the grill roaring every night of the week, one standout dish will be the 800-gram T-bone steak. Prepared for two, it’s served with pickled vegetables and fava bean puree to bring a bright, fresh element to the plate.
With sweet treats almost as important as the main event in Italian cuisine, Lauren Eldridge, the hospitality group’s award-winning head pastry chef, has reimagined simple, traditional flavours. Highlights include zabaglione with coffee granita and almond biscotti and cassata with ricotta, chocolate and candied fruit. There’ll also be a daily-rotating flavour of house-made gelato.
The drinks menu is a similarly thoughtful, down-to-earth affair. Here, the list covers a selection of small, family-run vineyards situated throughout Italy’s finest winemaking regions, from Tuscany to Piemonte and Veneto to Sicily. The menu also features a collection of aperitivo and digestivo cocktails, made for bookending a long and boisterous Italian feast.
While the opening of Osteria Mucca means Paisano & Daughters’ Australia Street dining offering is complete, there’s still one more launch to keep your eyes on. In the near future, Australia Street Suites, a series of boutique accommodations designed as a stylish launching pad for the Inner West, will join this hospitality hub, so watch this space.
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