I arrived at Avia on Wednesday night in an absolute state. I huffed and puffed and existential-dreaded my way to its door in the former Bei Bar & Bistro space (just down from Taylor Square). Then something magical happened: I stepped inside Avia.

Usually, on a restaurant’s first night, there are nerves, anxiety, and enough teething issues to add a zero to a proverbial dentist’s bottom line, but Avia sprinted out of the gates. The place was packed. Dates clinked glasses sitting at the bar, a newborn baby was passed around the room, and groups of friends ordered “one of everything and a few bottles”.

A few hours into its very first service, Avia already seemed like it was part of the furniture of the suburb, running with the same fluency of its neighbours Cafe Freda’s, Paski and Theeca.

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It’s not a total surprise. The venue’s owners, Stefano Marano and Jack Reid, are no strangers to the local hospitality scene. The pair met while working at The Apollo in Potts Point. Marano did his time in the kitchen before moving on to work at Copenhagen’s Hart Bageri and then at Le Foote as executive chef. Reid was Apollo’s floor manager before going on to stints at Supernormal, Greca and Yoko.

Marano told Broadsheet that opening his own restaurant has been a dream for a decade, but when it comes to the menu he’s reached even further back. Avia means “grandmother” in Latin and the legacy of Marano’s Nonna Pina can be felt throughout the space.

“It’s not necessarily a reflection of my grandmother’s cooking, it’s more a celebration of what she’s passed on to me about the importance of cooking for others, the power of food, and being a good host,” Marano tells Broadsheet.

The first dish on the menu – a house-baked focaccia with sugo – is a nod to mornings he spent waking up in his grandmother’s house and dipping bread into a sauce simmering on her stove.

The baby escarole pie topped with aged cheddar winks to both Marano’s Neapolitan heritage and his time at The Apollo and Le Foote. “I always have a pie on my menus,” he says, “and house-made sausages. The one at Avia is more of a spicier version than at [my previous] venues. It has almost a chorizo flavour.”

Other standouts on the menu are the raw beef swimming in a rich cheesy sauce topped with golden potato chips; coffee-baked pumpkin served with curd and flaky sea salt; and a zingy house-made spaghettoni with lemon, provolone and mouth-numbing native pepper. Two other pasta dishes – the sedanini with tripe, and bottoni with salted cod, potato and mustard fruit – proved popular among the first diners, and Marano hopes guests keep up that spirit of adventure.

The snapper tail is set to be a signature. It’s dry-aged, scored and grilled to produce a tender-fleshed fish with impossibly crispy skin. It’s served with roast tomato picante and fresh and zesty grapefruit.

The 60-seater venue has a polished concrete floor, olive green walls and a curved wooden bar. The prime seats in the house are along the front window – which opens onto Taylor Square where there’s a smattering of al fresco seats – the perfect perch for people-watching. The fit-out toes the line between modern and lived-in. Honestly, it feels like it’s always been here.

Avia
371 Bourke Street, Darlinghurst
(02) 9167 5726

aviarestaurant.com
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