Segreto

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
Segreto is a small, up-the-lane, glass-enclosed space serving the best and most varied Italian food in town. The owner and chef, Marty Zucco, is a member of one of Hobart’s pioneering and extended Italian restaurant families. He opened his eponymous pizzeria almost three decades ago and, as one of the first eateries to locate in today’s gastro-strip of North Hobart, it’s still among the most popular pizza and pasta joints in town. Segreto, however, is a more “serious” venture; something Zucco likes to call his “retirement restaurant where I just play and cook whatever I like”.

What this means is that, despite the extensive menu, the best thing is to ask him to bring whatever the kitchen’s decided to cook that day, or the sausages made yesterday, or the salami he’s had drying from last month. Such dishes don’t always make the specials board and sometimes only last a lunchtime. In the true casalingo fashion, everything is made in-house; if you want pineapple on your pizza, you’ll have to go somewhere else. There’s also a well-priced list of Tasmanian and Italian wines with many available by the glass and, as you would expect, great all-day coffee.

Graeme Phillips