Da Orazio Pizza and Porchetta, the casual Maurice Terzini (the restaurateur behind Icebergs) Italian restaurant that opened in Bondi in 2014 to much acclaim – but then closed to become Cicciabella which then shut in 2021 – has come to its senses. With the same charismatic chef Orazio D’Elia at the helm it has reinvented itself as Da Orazio; smart and chic and casual, and most importantly with the famous porchetta focaccia on the menu.   

There have been days in recent months when this writer has considered booking a trip to Italy just for the porchetta panini found at hole-in-the-wall nooks around Rome and Florence. A herby, fatty, fennel-spiked roll of slow-cooked pork, piles of marinated eggplant, fresh rocket and a liberal squeeze of lemon, in a sandwich. Gosh. 

At the refreshed Da Orazio that spectacular sandwich appears between two pizza halves that are smeared with mayonnaise and chilli, cut into four handsome wedges fit for sharing. The pork itself is from free-roaming farm Taluca Park in the Southern Highlands. It’s charred and light, blistered and fluffy; a perfect, perfect sandwich.

The new restaurant is a homage to the original Da Orazio – with about half of the familiar dishes on the new menu. A ‘70s vibing Orazio spicy vodka rigatoni is simple and glorious, creamy and tomatoey. The whole place has a bit of eras-gone about it. White rough rendered walls, chic white-painted breeze blocks under the kitchen counter, terracotta wall lights, one-litre carafes of house wine for $50; there’s a nod to the past, without laboring the point with checkered tablecloths. And the food is nothing short of exceptional – modern and comforting at once.

Related story: It’s time for a pizza party: Bondi’s Da Orazio set to re-open

We are seated next to the kitchen at the end of a long booth seat. I love a bit of restaurant kitchen theatre as much as the next social being; the chef banter, the stoking of a woodfired oven and the double-clap when a new dish appears on the pass. But in this particular nook we are also where the washing up happens out of scene. The clatter and incessant water rushing takes us not to the bustling streets of Italia but back home, where there are chores to be done. Along with maybe one table alongside, our duo is left communicating via thumbs ups and confused head tilts, leaning over the table so far we end up with – albeit delicious – prawn fritte clinging to our necks. 

The charming, seemingly exclusively Italian-accented wait-staff bring us drinks, and we turn up our own volume one cocktail down – the delicious ‘melograno’ is a muddle of Aperol, Pama liquor, Prosecco, pomegranate, soda and burnt rosemary. The $8 house wine is great value, and by the time the food appears we forget about the washing up. 

The antipasti span Italy’s regional specialties like figs with creamy, curdy stracciatella, toasted almonds and spiced olive oil ($20). Our waiter recommends the WA octopus, a lovely Neapolitan salad covered in parsley leaves ($27). There’s a salt cod dip, but elevated as a mousse-like ‘baccala scarpetta’ with salmon pearls and crispy bread for scooping up ($18). 

Pizzas come out of the domed brick-oven beautifully puffy. A pre-fermented starter and a wet dough makes the result so light, extraordinarily thin, with fire-licked charred spots all over the edges. The ‘margherita’ ($20) is as simple and perfect as pizzas get, but the surprise most-delicious order was the ‘gambero’ ($27). The prawns are roughly chopped and tender and sit atop the freshest yellow tomato passata, with cherry tomatoes, garlic, chilli, rocket, capers and lemon all jumbled together to make the pizza of the year. It’s so good we contemplate ordering another to take home for the next day – like minded, most guests leave with a pizza box under their arms.

Da Orazio is the kind of place where you can’t possibly order everything you need and want to try, and so vow to return promptly and with more people, the kids even – there are high chairs aplenty – make it a huge table for sharing and community, carafes of house wine, enough noise to drown out any misgivings about where you’re seated. And with joy and gusto, just as the Italians themselves do so well. 

Related story: Matt Moran makes a big Bondi sea-change with Kepos Street Kitchen