Mitch Orr and the team at Sydney restaurant Acme channel Goodfellas and its prison pasta sauce for a night next week, subbing in no-frills Italo-American classics for the usual menu.
There’ll be eggplant Parmigiana, done under the grill with mozzarella, parmesan, scarmorza and basil, while spaghetti gets the Southern Philadelphia style-treatment with veal gravy mixed through the tomato sauce.
When Acme opened, chef Orr went out of his way to say that it wasn’t an Italian restaurant. Ever the contrarian, on red sauce night he’ll throw caution to the wind, not just putting Acme in Italian drag, but making it the sort of Italian restaurant that serves its rigatoni alla vodka with “a lick of cream”. He’s drawn the line at the idea of shakers of powdered parmesan, but waiters will be rocking graters tableside for all your cheese needs.
Drinks are going all-Italian too, from Italian vino offered by the glass, carafe and bottle to classic cocktails like Negronis and Americanos.
And then for dessert, it’s pretty much just a free-for-all, with Orr abandoning the theme to indulge his love of tea in a “tea-ramisu”.
“We’ve got to do something to cheer us up in this shit weather,” he says.
Red Sauce Joint, Tuesday June 20, from 6pm, Acme, 60 Bayswater Rd, Rushcutters Bay, NSW, weareacme.com.au
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