Ventuno at Walsh Bay

Ventuno is a contemporary Italian restaurant on Hickson Road, on the harbour side of Walsh Bay. The precinct is a historic one, given over now to the arts, and the restaurant sits in it at water level. Circular Quay and Barangaroo are both a few minutes away, and the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are close enough to walk to before or after a meal. Tables are set out on the front, where the harbour is the view, and inside, where it is quieter and warmer.

The cooking is Italian and meant to be recognised: pizza fired in the wood oven, pasta rolled and cut by hand, antipasti that change with what is good. The pleasure is in ordering a few things and passing them around, with warm service as the house habit. For a party of 11 to 40 the kitchen switches to a banquet, classic or premium, and takes the ordering off the table entirely.

There are two rooms, in effect. The restaurant runs from the terrace on the water through to the dining room behind it, 100 people seated across both or 130 standing. Next door, at its own address, is a private room for 60 at table and 90 on their feet, with playful artwork and a mural across a full wall. Between them they hold a table for two on a Tuesday and a birthday for 60 on a Saturday.

The week has a rhythm to it. Weekday lunch brings the office trade down from the city, and the Ritorno card rewards the regulars: a stamp for every main, pasta or pizza between Monday and Friday, a glass of wine or a beer at three stamps, a pizza at six, and 25% off the bill at ten. Weekends are longer and slower, with a shared three-course menu and two hours of bottomless drinks at $105 a head, four people minimum. Theatre nights fill the early sittings, and the late happy hour holds the room after.