Piato Restaurant

LOCATION
On Blues Point Road, opposite Princess Street. A ten-minute walk from North Sydney station.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
McMahons Point is one of Sydney’s nicer spots. It isn’t as overrun with tourists as more prominent Harbour Bridge lookouts and offers stunning prospects onto the harbour and a street lined with charming restaurants. Blues Point Road which leads from North Sydney to the very point of McMahons Point is wide, leafy and filled with pretty terraces. It is a place that effortlessly gives a kind of European feel. So it isn’t surprising that the cheery Piato Restaurant found a place on its pavement. Carving out its unique blend of Italy, France, Spain and Greece, Piato greets passers-by with a courtyard pleasantly crowded with weaved seats and faux marble tables and an arched window complete with steaming coffee machine, biscuit jars and smiling, energetic staff.

If you can’t resist the happy tunes spilling over sun-kissed tabletops, you should probably sit down, grab a menu and plot your way forward. Here you have a couple of options. Piato offers everything from nibbly meze and tapas plates to more robust meals. A good way to start is with a chilled cucumber avocado soup, kefthetes (Greek meatballs), scallops cooked in sauce veloute or duck live pate with French baguette. You can nibble this way all night. If you hunger for a meal all to yourself, however, the roast lamb shanks which come with truffle mash potato, confit cherry tomato, broad beans and thyme jus might be just the thing. There are also plenty of pasta, meat, vegetarian and seafood options (including whole lobster). A wine list assembled from local boutique wines and Italian, French and Spanish drops, makes a fitting companion. And if you’d like to escape the busy front courtyard, Piato has three alternate dining spaces that can offer you a more intimate restaurant experience.

Agnes Gajewska