When Broadsheet catches up with Latteria’s Nicola Pau and Luca Baioni (who met while working at Osteria Oggi), they are resetting after a weekday lunch rush. They’re quick to point out, though, that the venue isn’t shackled by concepts like defined lunch and dinner service.
Instead, Latteria borrows a more fluid approach from Italy’s “latterie Milanesi” culture – traditional eateries of Milan and northern Italy. Baioni describes the concept as “little village shops where you could have a bit of a meal, maybe a glass of wine … and then later it would turn into an aperitivo bar”. They’re open all day and into the night, and shift seamlessly between different moods; it’s exactly what he hopes to replicate with Latteria.
The venue trades from lunch until midnight three nights a week, and until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays – and the kitchen takes orders up until the final hour of trade. “We’re not a restaurant, we’re a bar that serves food [and] we want to be busy in the moments when bars are busy,” Baioni says. “Back in Italy, it would make a lot of sense but it’s kind of unusual here.”
Latteria’s Studio Gram-designed space is organised around a central bar with high stools and standing room – perfect for an after-work knock-off or a pre-dinner snifter. As the night progresses, patrons can move on to a more traditional dining setting, and then retire to the lounge.
Max O’Callaghan, another ex-Oggi colleague, oversees food at Latteria, alongside Rhys Nicholson (ex-Press, Orso, Sol Rooftop). Baioni says the best way to order at Latteria is to go long on snacks. For Pau, the menu’s winner is the risotto al salto, a dish that was traditionally made by reusing leftover rice. Latteria’s risotto is cooked fresh and then pan-fried until crispy and served on a creamy Parmigiano base with chicken jus and finished with bonito “dancing” flakes.
Other hits include a savoury cannolo with whipped ricotta, prosciutto and spiced honey as well as chargrilled octopus skewers with fermented peppers and crispy polenta.
Behind the bar, Baioni is putting his personal twist on another hometown classic (and Tiktok fave), Milan’s Negroni Sbagliato. Campari and vermouth still feature, but the prosecco is replaced with house-made native currant and cranberry wine. It’s a perfect expression of his own migratory experience, blending the best of his hometown with a taste of the wine culture of his adopted home.
His Breakfast in Milano cocktail is inspired by the traditional Italian cappuccino and croissant combo. “If you were raised right in Milano [you eat your] croissant with apricot jam,” Baioni explains. He’s teamed up with Hutt Street neighbour Sugar Man to bring this AM flavour combo to a PM timeslot.
Baioni says that locals have been quick to adopt the idea of a lunchtime cocktail – something common in Italy. “That wasn’t something we had to explain to people very much,” he laughs.
Latteria
185 Hutt Street, Adelaide City
(08) 8102 3775
Hours:
Wed & Thurs 11.30am–midnight
Fri & Sat 11.30am–1am
Sun 11.30am –midnight
