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Besser, Surry Hills

There's movement at the former Billy Kwong site on Crown Street...

Besser, Surry Hills

Chris Chen

Read our restaurant review of Besser, Sydney here

There’s movement at the former Billy Kwong site on Crown Street. Pasta master Eugenio Maiale of A Tavola fame is moving in with Besser – an Italian eatery-bar hybrid opening late April.

The idea, Maiale says, is to keep things casual. There’ll be wine on tap and a menu split into seven categories: singles (braised chicken hearts with garlic bread, say, or roasted peppers with salt cod and capers); raw dishes such as scampi with lemon granita; vegetarian eats along the lines of carrot, kale, fennel and ricotta salad; a few pastas; a meat or fish offering (vitello alla Parmigiana); and easy-going desserts.

“It’s designed to share,” says Maiale, “and cater from a single person taking a seat at the bar craving a glass of wine… to a group in for a complete fix.” Maiale will also do a risotto à la minute each day, taking orders at six o’clock for a 6.30pm service.

And the name? Not only do Besser-block bricks feature significantly in the design of the restaurant, they’ll also be part of the menu in the form of “Besser block-grilled chicken”.

Besser, 3/355 Crown St, Surry Hills, NSW

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