Our restaurant critics’ picks of the latest and best eats around the country right now: Bacaro, Canberra.
The Trimboli brothers kicked off Braddon’s culinary regeneration a few years back with Italian & Sons, combining trattoria-trad with inner-urban cool. Now, as the renewal of the neighbourhood reaches a more fevered pitch, they’re breaking new ground with a foray into aperitivo culture. Bacaro, which adjoins Italian & Sons, is a chic monochromatic 50-seater, perfect for an amaro, a sharp Re Ale Extra IPA from Lazio or something from the expanded list of regional Italian wines and varieties. Access is through the restaurant or via a separate laneway entrance, and the drinker-diner is greeted by plenty of space to linger alongside a stylish marble bar or kick back on low-slung stools and graze on a good range of cheese and house-made salumi. If it’s looking more like a bottle than a glass, and something more substantial is in the offing, take to the tables and tackle a wood-fired pizza del giorno, wet-roasted rabbit with rosemary and white beans, or oxtail ragù with semolina gnocchi.
Bacaro, 7 Lonsdale St, Braddon, ACT, (02) 6162 4888
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