PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAWhen the Bonaventura family opened their small Italian deli many decades ago, they would not have believed how the suburb of Paddington was to change in the future. In the early nineties the deli was bought by Laraine Russo, who – picking up on the direction Paddington was heading in – refurbished and added a small cafe. Today the upmarket boutiques are snaking down to the cafe from Oxford street and all manner of people are attracted to the cafe/deli for some quality shopping or a short black.
Laraine casts her net far and wide in search of the best produce on the market (she currently gets her tomatoes from New Zealand because, apparently, they’re the best) which means that when you eat in you are getting deli standard, not cafe standard, food. The house specialty is the olive bread with prosciutto and bocconcini, although personally I think it’s all about the ricotta cannoli. The tasting platters are also worth a squizzle – either antipasti or bresaola. The cafe itself is squishy and intimate, with backless stools and quarters so close that you can’t help but interact with the person at the next table. This makes it a sociable, friendly place where patrons are all too happy to linger over a mag and an Allpress coffee.
Sarah Theeboom