PROFILED BY DEGROOTS MEDIAA local favourite among Double Bay’s glamorous cliques, Limoncello is actually quite casual and friendly – and reasonably affordable, to boot. Inside it’s done up in the colours of frosted liqueur bottles, with a long, attractive bar, a tempting timber wine rack and a semi-open kitchen with a wood-fired oven. There’s a small terrace out the back with tables arranged around a small Romanesque fountain. The streetside alfresco tables fill up quickest with their outlook over pretty Bay Street, a prime spot for watching high-heeled and well-heeled locals strut by in the latest get-up.
The menu is a list of Italian classics, with a few contemporary touches. It’s unfussy, reliable and surprisingly generous in the portion stakes. Start with a delicate antipasto plate of cold seafood or a tomato, white wine and chilli soup with mussels and vongole. There’s a good range of pastas, including taglioni with scampi, asparagus, cherry tomato and evo. In addition to your veal scallopini and sizzling baby octopus, there are good pizzas "traditionali" or "gourmet" and a piquant, Roman-style tomato and fish soup with toasted bread. A dependable choice for this sometimes fickle suburb.