In Short: Fratelli Fresh Crows Nest is Italian food the way it should be; quality ingredients, prepared simply in a casual and welcoming space.
Italian food done well is an exercise in simple, quality ingredients prepared with a passion for showcasing their flavours. Having travelled throughout Italy, sampling it’s many regions’ specialties, I’ve cultivated an enormous appreciation for the honest approach to true Italian food. Finding that same authentic approach in Fratelli Fresh’s Crows Nest location not only transports me back to lazy lunches in sun-drenched Tuscan villages, but reassures me that real and outstanding Italian food is on our doorstep.
Clad in fresh white tiles with accents of vibrant reds, Fratelli Fresh Crows Nest is an open and inviting space with a mix of cosy booths, communal tables, and al fresco dining. With a colourful bar area dominating the space and the buzzing kitchen churning out delicious creations from the rear, the four of us settle into a leather booth and await the yum to come.
Starting the meal off right, we dive into a flourish of zucchini flowers. Stuffed with meltingly delicious mozzarella and dusted with parmesan, these tender pillows are light and crispy without a hint of greasiness.
Daily specials can sometimes be a gamble, but when we bet on the duck pappardelle, the gamble pays off big time! I’d have to say that our entire table would gladly come back to Fratelli Fresh Crows Nest just for this dish alone. With shredded juicy duck atop a mound of perfectly cooked pasta flavoured with chilli, bitter chocolate, and orange, this plate was emptied in seconds.
It’s a sunny summer’s day as the lunch time crowd filters in from Crows Nest’s main drag, so a fresh salad seems a fitting interlude in our Mediterranean meet up. The tuna salad of sweet red and yellow tomatoes, moist chunks of tuna, capers, olives, and crunchy Italian bread croutons, is an explosion of textures and flavours. Every bite takes you a little closer to memories of meals overlooking the Amalfi coast.
Pizza is the payoff for our trek through the flavours of the Italian homeland so far, and Fratelli Fresh Crows Nest does not let the side down with this simply sublime example of a prosciutto di parma pizza. This white based pizza or “pizza bianca” in Italian, is, yet again, a masterclass in supreme simplicity. Topped with salty, smoky, premium prosciutto, and covered in peppery rocket, and rich extra virgin olive oil, each slice is one from pizza heaven!
Fratelli Fresh Crows Nest illustrates perfectly that the proven formula of sourcing quality ingredients and allowing the superior flavours of that quality to shine through, results in a food experience that leaves a mark and keeps them coming back for more.
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