There’s something to be said for tableside theatrics when delivered by the star (read: chef). It’s less about a “ta-da!” moment as it is about bridging the divide between plate and source.
So when resident chef Sammy Rachard doles out creamy, yolk-coated pasta clinging to smoked Australian bacon from a 40kg wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano, there’s plenty to smile about.
“We had anticipated that our first cheese wheel, which is imported from Italy, would last us a couple of months,” says co-owner Graeme McCormack, “but it lasted us a week and a half.”
McCormack has opened the casual Italian diner in the noodles-dominated Chatswood Interchange because he felt there was a demand for more cuisine types.
The bright and airy 100-seater offers hand-stretched pizza, pasta (go the pork and fennel orecchiette, if not the signature Carbonara) and small plates, like the party-sized lasagna frites: hand-rolled lasagna bites, crumbed, fried and served with pesto dipping sauce. It’s the arancini’s carbier cousin and it’s proven a hit with locals.
Their “Almost Famous” garlic bread is just as fun-loving: like the pull-apart loaves your Nan used to bake but studded with black garlic cloves and finished (at the table again) with a ladle of hot garlic butter. It offers a welcome smack to the face in the form of sweet, garlicky goodness.
Lasagne frittes see handmade lasagne get the deep-fried treatment. Source: Stretch Italian
“They’re very classic dishes – simple and straightforward – but they [customers] love the theatre,” McCormack admits.
The desserts play to a classic Italian hit-list with a few modifications – gelato (including a seasonal peach one with basil, ricotta and honey) and a ‘tiramissedyou’ (geddit?) sit next to a banoffee pie and cheesecake.
There’s no shortage of crowd-pleasers on this new stretch.
Daily 11am-10pm
Shop 79A District Dining, Chatswood Interchange, NSW
