Matteo Downtown brings apertivo culture

Italian restaurant and bar Matteo Downtown is set to open on Sydney’s Bond Street this August.

A louder, bigger and brighter brother to the more relaxed, Matteo Double Bay, the new CBD concept will offer a buzzing all-day vibe and authentic Italian flavours in a contemporary urban setting.

What will really set Matteo Downtown apart will be their embrace of the traditional Italian apertivo culture. Five days a week from 4pm-6pm, guests will be able to gather at the bar and sip on a selection of wine, beer, seasonal spritz, and Negroni - accompanied by complimentary snacks, as per the Italian evening tradition.

Snacks will be delivered on roaming trays, and will showcase whatever produce D’Elia decides is best on the day – think pizzetta, calzone, octopus bites and fried school prawns.

Matteo Downtown is the brainchild of hospitality team, The Adored Group, which currently includes The Island, The Lobo Plantation and Kittyhawk.

Following the success of their first restaurant venture, Adam Abrams, Orazio D’Elia, and Eddie Levy now have their sights set firmly on Sydney’s CBD and are bringing with them their combined passion, knowledge and infectious love of having a great time.

Matteo Downtown will offer a different facet of the vibrant Italian lifestyle to Sydney, inspired by the big all-day dining restaurants of Milan and Rome. Downtown will capture the flavour, energy and theatre of the high-paced city and be open all day for breakfast, lunch, aperitivo, dinner, and drinks late into the night. 

“We want to capture the essence of that big city lifestyle,” Abrams says. “Like Rome and Milan, there’s always something going on - people popping by for a drink and a snack, having a business meeting, or enjoying a long lunch that might turn into dinner or more drinks.”

The stylish bar in the venue will be framed by an eye-catching installation of forty-four playfully vibrant works of art curated by Australian artist, Daimon Downey and the open terrace for alfresco dining has been designed so guests can see out and be seen, reminiscent of people watching in one of Milan’s bustling piazzas.

The food concept will draw on Chef Orazio D’Elia’s traditional Italian upbringing in Southern Italy, and his culinary and cultural journeys through the North.

D’Elia’s food philosophy is to take simple and traditional dishes and execute them using exceptional ingredients, a skill he honed whilst working in the big kitchens of Milan in his younger years.

Downtown will have a dedicated mozzarella and antipasti bar, and feature more earthy and rich dishes from Northern Italy, along with simple traditional dishes that are often forgotten on modern menus.