A Look Inside Neil Perry's New Italian Fine Diner Rosetta

Back in March, Neil Perry posted an image on Instagram announcing that his Italian fine diner Rosetta was coming to Sydney. The much-loved Melbourne original has been teasing Sydneysiders for years, offering up Italian cooking from both the country's northern and southern regions. And now, we finally have our own version of this high-class Italian affair with the opening of the restaurant's second location at Grosvenor Place in the CBD.

The restaurant boasts three levels on which to eat yourself into an Italian food coma, the most sought-after of which is the ground floor outdoor terrace. While that area is open for all-day dining and snacking with harbour views, the inside dining room — which has been fitted out in an Amalfi Coast colour palette of green and blue — is serving up the full affair for lunch (12–3pm) and dinner (from 6pm) seven days a week. Up one level sits a bar, and up again is a mezzanine dining space with room for 50 people.

The menu is much more seafood-led than its Melbourne counterpart, with dishes like the spaghetti alla chitarra with prawns and pistachio, yellowfin tuna with salsa verde and fish soup. The mozzarella bar looks after all your cheese needs, and pizza is of course on the cards too. The bar stocks over 30 gins, makes five types of Negronis, heralds bellinis and specialises in Italian wine.

Word of the restaurant's migration to Sydney was first heard back in November when Urban Purveyor Group acquired the Rockpool Group to form the Rockpool Dining Group. Their combined portfolio of eateries became 47 venues overnight, and they expect their portfolio to grow to more than 80 venues in 2017 alone. They've recently launched two take away spinoffs, Fratelli Famous and Saké Jr, and plan to open 100 of each (yes, of each) over the next five years. Rosetta will be in good company, with Perry's recently relaunched Jade Temple just down the block.

Find Rosetta at Grosvenor Place, 225 George Street, Sydney. For more information, visit rosettarestaurant.com.au.

By Marissa Ciampi and Lauren Vadnjal. Images: Katje Ford and Jason Loucas.