Cicco in Zetland has long been a family run venture, owned by Tony Pacitto, who ran Cafe Vité. His son Alex has taken over the business and re-opened it as an Italian cafe restaurant with breakfast and brunch options and evening shared dishes. Taking his favourite influences from Italy and incorporating them with fresh Australian produce and proteins to produce a super tasty and very approachable menu. We love the name, and the story behind it, for Cicciotto essentially translates to “chubby boy”, encompassing what Alex recalls of childhood memories and food.
With everything made in store except 1 bread variety (the Sonoma miche), you’ll find a range of panini, home made egg pasta, wood fired pizza and decadent desserts, everything is unbelievably delicious and so perfect to share over a few spritzers.
Sit alfresco under the fairy lights and enjoy a refreshing drink or aperitivo, whether it be a Bellini, spritz, negroni or campari or a wine from their extensive drink list. Inside, the venue is spacious with exposed brick, open plan kitchen, visible wood fired pizza oven and expansive bar. It’s certainly the kind of place for a group catch up and would be appropriate for larger celebrations.
Food wise, it’s a great option to bring with antipasto, as our dining party devoured a colourful antipasti platter featuring marinated vegetables and pickles, salami, mortadella, and a creamy burrata. We enjoyed this with their made house focaccia and plump marinated olives. In addition, for the entrees, their version of Bruschetta on miche sourdough was nice and crispy, topped with fresh cherry tomatoes, onion and balsamic.
Another stunning dish was their Eye fillet tartare, perfectly marinated and presented like a work of art.
When you’re looking to decide on a main, you’ll find plenty of Italian favourites from their wonderful wood fired pizza that you can watch the dough being rolled, smeared with a red or white base and topped with your favourite ingredients. We shared a classic Margherita; San marzano tomato, fior di latte, basil, oregano as well as the most amazing Mushroom & ricotta calzone which oozed with the cheesy filling.
Pasta wise, these are outstanding and absolute must orders. Their version of the cacio e pepe orecchiette, cheesy and served with pepper, pecorino and guanciale. In addition, their marinara linguine is one of the best we’ve tried.
You can’t stop here, for dessert is a must. You can’t go wrong with a cannoli and the ones here are dainty, crispy and just as you expect with the creamy ricotta filling, crispy shell and topped with pistachios.
They also do a mighty fine lemon tart, the biscuit base served with a runny lemon filling, cream and fresh fruit. This will see you keep putting that spoon back in for more.
Not only does Cicco do a great dinner, but we’ve also tried their all day brekkie/brunch menu with your brekkie classics and also Italian paninis. We enjoyed their chicken schnitzel sandwich on miche sourdough and of course one of their in house roasted coffees; who can go past the traditional espresso! We love that the outdoor area is puppy friendly too.
The staff with their Italian heritage made us feel welcome and come with a depth of knowledge of Italian food and make for a great experience all round. See less
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4.6
