Not quite a restaurant, not quite a café, Formaggi Ocello bends the rules with superb coffee, wine and quality deli goods in a quaint Surry Hills store. Punters arrive in droves here to sample wine and cheese at the tables in the evening, or to collect goods to take home. Those who love their gourmet goods will simply adore this Italian providore.
Those who love their cheese and wine will simply adore this Italian providore, tucked away inside a knot of eateries off Bourke Street. A cluster of small wooden tables offer views into the maturation room where mammoth mounds of cheese age gracefully – a telltale sign of where the passion lies for owner Carmelo Ocello. Originating as a market stall, Formaggi Ocello gathers the best artisan cheeses from across Italy and Australia and offers them up in long glass cabinets like culinary treasure chests.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Knowledgeable staff guide guests through products and help match morsels to individual tastes; each scrumptious wedge of cheese is available to take home or dine-in. Rounds of every size and texture form this dairy heaven, from soft to hard, from goat's milk to sheep's milk, and everything in-between. Couples and groups can settle in with a cheese plate, or a mix of salumi and cheese, and pair it with a glass of wine or beer for a leisurely evening repast. Calzoni, beef lasagne, and spinach and ricotta cannelloni offer more substantial meals, while daytime visitors can lunch on a Caprese salad. Dainty pastries, lunettes, almond croissants and chocolate cannoli marry perfectly to a fresh cup of coffee, ideal for an afternoon sugar-kick. Fill the shopping bags with a selection of imported and local cheeses, salumi, bread, condiments and gelati. Divine artisan cheeses will have mouths salivating and minds divided: pecorino al tartufo, a matured cheese of sheep's milk and truffles, or ubriacodi amarone, a cheese immersed in red wine? Gorgonzola dolce latte, a soft, creamy, blue cheese from Lombardia, or vatellina casera stagionato, an aged, hard cheese from the Italian mountains? Decisions, decisions, decisions!
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