Da Bepi
Brothers Matthew and Anthony Lucato's cicchetteria channels their grandfather's hometown outside Venice — with family recipes, Veneto wines and records spinning until 3am.
Overview
Mozzarella in carrozza is the kind of thing you'd find on a bar counter in Venice long after midnight. At Da Bepi, it's a four-generation family recipe, and on weekends it's served until 3am on Sydney Road. Brothers Matthew and Anthony Lucato opened their Venetian wine bar and cicchetteria in Brunswick in 2025, and it has quickly become the sort of neighbourhood bar where one spritz turns into a long night.
The bar is named after the brothers' grandfather, Giuseppi "Bepi" Lucato, and takes its cues from his hometown of San Marco di Resana, just outside Venice. Neither brother came up through hospitality — Matthew was a KFC area manager, Anthony worked in the music industry — so the menu leans on family rather than a CV. Their nonnas' recipes inform much of what comes out of the kitchen, right down to Nonna Maria's lasagne, made from her handwritten cookbook.
Cicchetti are the main event. Expect Venetian staples like baccalà mantecato and sardè in saor alongside prosciutto with burrata, fritto misto, arancini with house-made napoli and garlic bread loaded with guanciale and pecorino, plus a daily-changing selection of seasonal bites. If you're settling in, fresh pasta comes from Piera Pasta Fresca — rigatoni carbonara, tagliolini ragu, casarecce pomodoro — and nonna's tiramisu is made fresh each day.
The wine list runs to more than 50 bottles, leaning on the Veneto, Friuli and Piedmont with a handful of Australian producers in the mix. Spritzes and negronis take care of aperitivo hour, there's a frozen sgroppino for something lighter, and the late end of the evening is handled by a deep shelf of amari and digestivi — Montenegro, Braulio, Cynar and Rucolino among them.
The room is built for lingering: soft amber light, polished timber, marble and brass, and a long bar lined with wine bottles, records and stemware. Lucato family photographs cover the walls, and a turntable spins funk, soul and Italo-disco courtesy of local selectors. Upstairs, a newly opened second room hosts private functions for up to 70 people cocktail-style, or opens up as an extension of the bar on busier nights, taking the venue's capacity to 180.
Arrive for aperitivo, stay for the records — on Sydney Road, Venice keeps very late hours.
Images: Federico Testi.
