Downtown Magazine. June 2022
T E L L U S A L I T T L E BI T A BOU T YOUR BUSINESS…
We opened Antica Australis in March 2020, just three weeks before Australia’s first COVID-19 lockdown.
Paolo is originally from a ‘hidden’ region in central Italy called Ciociaria . He is descended from two of the 12 original Italic tribes of central Italy that pre-dated the ancient Romans and inhabited the region that’s now known as Ciociaria. It’s one hour south of Rome, in between Rome and Naples. It was his dream to start a new life in Australia and open a dining establishment in the style of a regional Italian locanda – so he emigrated here in 2013 after we met each other while working in Abu Dhabi.
A locanda means ‘local’, and you’ll find locandas in little off-the-beaten path villages on top of mountains in regional Italy. They are usually run by families or groups of friends, and they specialise in serving up traditional dishes using all local produce.
The Orange region has been perfect for this as there are many parallels between the produce here and in Ciociaria. We have access to truffles, hazelnuts, olives, olive oil, artisanal goats cheese, venison… the list goes on. Most of the produce we source for Antica is also organic and we source directly from producers and farm gates.
WHAT MAKES ANTICA SO SPECIAL?
Antica is not a restaurant, it’s a cultural dining experience. We serve a four-course set menu, with all guests commencing the dining experience together. Paolo creates dishes from his region that are hundreds and sometimes thousands of years old. In between each dish, I share the provenance of the food, along with the stories behind the dishes to put it all into context. It’s like being whisked away to Italy for a few hours, without having to get out your passport.
Ciociaria is called a ‘hidden’ region, as it was literally wiped off the map by the ancient Romans – it’s only recently that it’s been put back on. There are still no signs pointing ‘Ciociaria this way’ or ‘Welcome to Ciociaria’ when you get there – pretty much the only people who know where it is, are the Ciociarians who are already there. And us.
Through the food and stories at Antica, we are sharing the true origins of the Italian peninsula. We’re contributing to the cultural revival of Ciociaria on the other side of the world. We want to keep our cultural heritage alive through music, stories and food. It would be fair to say that Antica Australis is the only Ciociarian locanda in the world outside of Ciociaria. We love that.
W H Y OP E N A R E S TA UR A N T IN T HE LITTLE VILLAGE OF CARCOAR?
The gorgeous original haberdashery store of Carcoar (built in 1927) had just been recently renovated after being empty for several years, and it’s been one of my favourite buildings since I was a child growing up in the region. My family have been living in the region since the 1840s and were originally based in the little village of Byng, just outside Orange. When Paolo emigrated to Australia, he gave me a brief to find the perfect location for an Italian locanda: It had to be in the countryside, surrounded by farms and orchards and vineyards. It had to be in a village – the ethos of a locanda is to become an integral part of the fabric of a community. It had to be in the middle of nowhere. The journey to the locanda, the discovery of it, is an essential part of the experience.
Carcoar village with a population of 216 was perfect for us! It’s one of Australia’s most perfectly preserved 19th century villages (recently winning NSW Top Tiny Tourism Town), it’s like driving onto a movie set when you get here. It’s amazing to live and work here, it’s a real privilege.
W H AT I S Y OUR FAV OUR I T E DI S H ON THE MENU AND WHY?
When we first opened Antica, Paolo was only cooking traditional and ancient dishes, but since the last lockdown in July 2021 he’s started getting creative and making dishes up. He’s doing this for a reason – in Italy every region has its own specialty and in remote regions like Ciociaria, every village has its own dish. In summer you travel from village to village during all the festivals to sample their speciality. My favourite village in Ciociaria is Santa Francesca, where they have been making fried doughnuts for hundreds of years. THE BEST!
Paolo wanted to create seasonal dishes for the Orange region and for Carcoar to become renowned for. He created a beautiful salty-sweet (agrodolce) Cherry Risotto during the local cherry season in November and recently during the hazelnut season in March, he was serving up pasture-raised local sirloin steak with a coffee and hazelnut sauce.
But if we had to name everyone’s favourite dish, it would be ‘Cacio e Pepe’. The most deceptively simple dish you’ll ever come across, it’s made from only three ingredients – pecorino cheese, peppercorns and artisanal pasta. It’s a challenge to make, delicious and highly addictive. It’s a dish that is literally thousands of years old, and it’s a shepherd’s dish from Paolo’s home region.