Pasta Emilia

Overview

Pasta Emilia, which moved from its original home in Bronte to Surry Hills back in 2012, is an old-school Italian joint that serves up pasta just like nonna used to make. Founded by Anna Maria Eoclidi, the restaurant is an ode to her home in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region. Organic pasta is the name of the game here, with the chefs make more than 15 varieties of pasta each week. Think heartwarming dishes like strozzapreti with slow-cooked beef ragu ($30); spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino ($24); and the rich duck and truffle tortelli with butter and herbs ($36). If you're wanting more than just pasta, there's mains such as slow-cooked lamb with honey roasted potatoes ($34) and fish of the day ($34), plus daily specials, sides and salads.

The osteria also has an on-site cooking school, where you can spend a Saturday getting your hands dirty, or rather, floury. With local, organic ingredients at your fingertips, you'll learn how to make pasta the traditional way. That includes creating the best flour mix, fashioning it into dough and stretching it into sheets. Alessandro Grisendi, who's been making pasta by hand for over a decade, will teach you how to make all kinds of pasta, from ravioli and cappelletti, to linguine and strozzapreti. And when your work is done, you'll sit down to a hearty lunch, including pasta, a veggie salad and glass of organic wine. Classes run for three hours and cost $150–160 per person.

Top image: Destination NSW