Fontana Great food and drinks

We have been really enjoying our visits to this upstairs restaurant in Redfern which is just a very short Uber trip or train trip from the CBD.

The staff at Fontana are efficient yet friendly, the cooking is on point and the wine list contains many natural wines to satisfy the growing number of people who relish the chance to drink wines that haven’t been adulterated with poisonous chemicals.

The owners are some of Sydney’s modern veterans in the restaurant scene. At the stoves is Daniel Johnston. Out front looking after their guests is the amazing Ivey Wawn and in the background due to his duties at his Paddington restaurant is part-owner Harry Levy.

On our most recent visit to Fontana we were stunned by the purity and flavour of the “ricotta del casa” – it was amazing! It now stands alongside a similar dish we had in Firenze around twenty-five years ago at Ristorante del Cambio which was also pure and was almost exactly the same stunning texture.

There were many other wonderful dishes and we should point out the beautiful flavours of a tomato and nectarine salad where the two main elements blended beautifully together.

The food at Fontana definitely has a strong Italian influence but using the best local ingredients. Dishes such as the ricotta della casa and the pasta e fagioli definitely speak of Italy, however even the peach and tomato salad that we thoroughly enjoyed and is shown below, could conceivably be served in many Italian restaurants that we know about!

On another occasion here we were served a dish with a stemperata sauce which is a very Sicilian concept and the sharp flavour and a sweet and sour aftertaste was perfect for the dish.

The wine that was suggested by the staff to accompany these vibrant dishes was one imported by our colleagues as Halle aux Vins who also import natural wines.

The 2023 VdF Blanc “Escargot” Chardonnay was from Marie and Vincent Tricot who have a small plot in the now fashionable, Auvergne. It was delicious and was perfect for the vegetable-strong food selections.

The ricotta dish is shown below:

And we also thought we would show the beautiful fruit and tomato salad:

We haven’t eaten here very often (only about three times) but we have enjoyed the food each time and we have also enjoyed the wines.

You can find out their opening time on their Web site which is here.

We have also included this restaurant in our summary of the best places to eat in Sydney here.