Casa

A house of good times, where next-wave wines meet one of the city’s most innovative menus. Keep it on repeat.

You want to book early at Casa. Or have your fingers crossed. That’s because this delightful neo-trattoria is often packed with a youngish crowd that doesn’t mind braving the street seats or the narrow courtyard. They’ve come to quiz the black-clad staff about the brave and esoteric wine list that runs from the obscure, such as the Alsation Domaine Mittnacht Frères pinot blanc blend, to A&C Ainsworth’s grenache from Victoria’s Pyrenees. 

Conversation pumps and locals and pilgrims pop in to grab takeaway bottles as the team’s new pizza place next door buzzes.

They’re here for the fall-apart venison sausage on the silkiest celeriac purée with sour cherry jus. They might be using the textbook focaccia to mop up the incredible vadouvan beurre blanc under char-grilled whiting with pickled fennel and mussels. Couples only take their eyes off each other to ensure they get their fair share of the aromatic lamb ragù tossed through fettuccine or to share the kitchen’s take on traditional tiramisù. 

The dining room itself is modest: a rough textured white wall fringed with empty wine bottles, a metal-fronted bar and timber floors. Conversation pumps and locals and pilgrims pop in to grab takeaway bottles as the team’s new pizza place next door buzzes. Add a roster of events and Casa is a hub, an asset, a drawcard. Do book.