Coming soon to Sydney: Paski, a wine bar and restaurant by 10 William St and 121BC alumni Leave a comment

Come to Paski, and you’ll be in safe hands. The Italian wine bar and restaurant in Sydney’s Darlinghurst (which opens on Monday) has the backing of a trio of hospitality guns who take their food and wine seriously.

Giorgio De Maria, Enrico Tomelleri and Mattia Dicati. Sound familiar? De Maria is the former sommelier of the now-closed 121BC, and gregarious owner of Giorgio De Maria’s Fun Wines, a wine seller and importer that deals exclusively with artisanal and minimal intervention Italian wines. He also co-founded Rootstock, the dearly departed but massively influential natural wine festival. You might know Tomelleri, meanwhile, from his days as head chef at 10 William St and Fratelli Paradiso. And Dicati? He’s the former sommelier at 10 William St and now runs Vino Mito, a new wine-importing business that also focuses on bottles from lo-fi Italian winemakers.

Although it sounds like Paski’s been in the works for a long time, when De Maria was initially offered the lease, he turned it down.

“I wasn’t initially looking to open a place, but then I thought about how beneficial it would be to have somewhere that could become a showcase of what I do,” says De Maria. “I sell my wines to a lot of different venues in Australia, but there’s no one that stores all of my wine.”

“And most importantly, I can serve you a wine and tell you everything about it because I’ve been there several times – it’s the direct narrative that’s so important for these kinds of products.”

Downstairs at the walk-in only bar, Paski Vineria Popolare, it’s all about the wine. On the shelves, custom-made by artist and steelworker Dion Horstmans, you’ll find over 400 bottles of wine from both Giorgio De Maria’s Fun Wines and Vino Mito’s ranges. There are wines by-the-glass, but by-the-bottle is the true focus. There’s bar-stool seating for around 25 people, and a menu that’s heavy on cheese and charcuterie: San Daniele prosciutto, bresaola, salami, Prosciutto di Parma, all the usual salumi suspects. The rest of the menu is made up of “things that you would eat on the street,” says De Maria, including snacks such as fried baccalà (salted cod). If you’d rather take your wine straight home, that’s an option too.

Head upstairs to restaurant Paski Sopra, where Tomelleri will turn out wine-friendly Italian. There are a number of pasta dishes including hand-rolled parmesan anolini (similar to ravioli), tagliatelle with ragù di cortile (“courtyard pasta,” usually made with poultry or fowl) ,and classics such as spaghetti al pomodoro. There’s also a slightly different wine list, which includes some rare bottles.

“Ten years ago I wouldn’t have had enough wine to run a venue, and now there are producers I’ve been working with for 10 years,” Di Maria says. “This is about existing relationships coming together – it’s my kind of venue.”