PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA1889 is yet another brilliant Matt Harvey creation that is located next to his suave restaurant, The White Rabbit. It is a casual pizzeria that in true Harvey style serves traditional Italian cuisine using modern Australian ingredients. Featuring its very own wood-fired oven, the pizzas that are created here are based on traditional ideas. Hence the name, 1889, which is the year that famous Italian pizza chef Pizzaioli Raffaele Esposito created a pizza in honour of Queen Margherita. He made it red, green and white to represent the Italian flag using tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella.
The standards at 1889 are fit for a queen and not only pizza, but antipasto, salads and pastas are also on offer. The Rigatoni Caponata is a rich combination of peppers, tomato, eggplant and capers finished with garlic. There are also pasta and risotto specials that are changed regularly depending on what fresh ingredients are available at the local market. But you can’t go past the pizzas despite the lure of the rest of the menu. Top of the list is, of course, the Margherita followed by the Maiale of slow roasted pork, potato, garlic, smoked mozzarella and sage. Salads of rocket, radicchio and pinenuts with vincotto are truly Italian and have a fresh bite.
Meagan Hepworth, July 2007
