Q&A: Andrew Cibej
Andrew Cibej is the chef/owner of the wildly successful Vini - a wine bar-diner so successful he had to buy the café next door in order to expand the business. Here, he talks to Myffy Rigby about pizza and pesce while rolling out the pasta dough. Salute!
Shopping
Paesanella I get all my buffalo mozzarella and ricotta in Haberfield and though I've still got a preference for the air freight product in terms of skin texture and sweetness, it's great to see Australians in the game.
88 Ramsay St Haberfield 2045. (02 9799 8483).
Norton Street Grocer I know it's not a niche-y little hole-in-the-wall type place, but even so, the quality of their smallgoods is extremely high.
Shop 1027, Level 1, 500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction 2022. (02 9386 5800).
Fratelli Fresh We get all our fruit and veg from here - great quality and good range.
7 Danks Street, Waterloo 2017. (02 9699 3174).
Arquilla We make a lot of our own pasta in-house but the dry goods we get from Arquilla. We use De Cecco for spaghetti and also Rusticella.
159 Allen Street,? Leichhardt 2040. (02 9560 9733).
Claudio's We like to use Claudio's as their seasonal vagaries are pretty evident and are great for shellfish.
Sydney Fish Market: Bank St, Pyrmont 2009. (02 9004 1100).
Restaurants
Pizza Mario For great pizza, we head here. We often go a Margherita (with a two year old child, it's a family necessity) but I'm also very fond of the potato and rosemary pizza biancho and the radicchio and Gorgonzola.
St. Margaret's Shop 9, 417-421 Bourke St, Surry Hills 2010. (02 9332 3633).
Buzo For a nicer night out, we head here. I'll always order whatever seasonal specials are on their menu - last visit I had a Carpaccio of Jerusalem artichoke. The nuttiness and inate sweetness of the tuber is incredibly interesting.
3 Jersey Rd Woollahra, 2025. (02 9328 1600).
Café Sopra I really like Andy Bunn's cooking, though I feel like I need a double life - there are places I'd like to brunch at everyday like Sopra, though the truth is I don't tend to stray too far from a sandwich during the week.
Upstairs in Fratelli Fresh? 7 Danks St, Waterloo 2017. (02 9699 3174).