In Italy, there’s a word for adult men who live at home and are doted on by their mothers. “Mammoni” describes the kind of fellow who is accustomed to being waited on by a mama who demonstrates her love through food. And at Bar Mammoni, a new all-day laneway eatery and bar in the burgeoning CBD Quay Quarter precinct, this is exactly the kind of round-the-clock attention you can expect.
“We wanted to create a place that is always open no matter what time of the day it is,” Scott Brown tells Broadsheet over a pile of house-made pastries. He’s the creative director of House Made Hospitality, the group behind Apollonia, Grana and Lana, all next door in Hinchcliff House. “You can come first thing in the morning for your coffee and last thing at night for grappa or limoncello.”
The diminutive space is mainly kitchen, but there is a bar for sipping $2 Allpress espresso (standing up, Italian-style), and seating for 24 in the courtyard. The counter is framed by a rack of house-made amari, with a new bottle championed every week.
Broadsheet Access members get special tables at busy restaurants, tickets to exclusive events and discounts on food, coffee, brand offers and more.
Find out moreMornings at Bar Mammoni are all about coffee and pastry. Jonny Pisanelli (also founder and owner of Adelaide’s Abbots and Kinney) brings traditional Neapolitan training and a punk-rock approach to pastry to his role as head of viennoiserie.
“I like nostalgic flavours,” Pisanelli tells Broadsheet. “We want to make you smile and bring you back to childhood by using traditional flavours and being modern with them.”
The cheekily named creations – Cinnabon Jovi is brioche with cinnamon schmear and salted-vanilla glaze – might have recognisable ingredients but they are anything but traditional. Pisanelli is even reinventing the chocolate croissant: he puts a chocolate brownie inside the pastry and drizzles salted caramel custard on the exterior. On Fridays he makes sfogliatelle, to “take people back to the times they could travel to places like Naples”.
Head chef Jason Duncan (ex-Charlie Parker’s) oversees a lunchtime pivot to pizza by the slice. The 72-hour fermented pizza dough is made with flour freshly milled next door at Grana Bakery. The crust is a light, crunchy platform for a range of ever-changing toppings like ’nduja, caramelised onion and ricotta; pork and octopus with lemon garlic cream; and tomato, stracciatella and basil. The menu of small dishes includes Sydney rock oysters, a chicken-wing cotoletta and a platter of dips and cured meats.
Hinchcliff House’s drinks savant Jason Williams came up with the “unapologetically light”, seasonally evolving spritz menu, which showcases a stellar line-up of Australian and Italian spirits. At the moment, options include a strawberry spritz and a rosemary spritz. Big sister Apollonia next door has one of Australia’s largest collections of Italian and Australian amari, and she’s very generous with her stash. And a tight wine list offers both local and Italian drops by the glass, carafe or bottle.
Bar Mammoni
Shop 3, Loftus Lane, Sydney
(02) 7228 1400
Hours:
Tue to Sat 7am–late
