OLD RED-AND-WHITE CHECKED TABLECLOTHS, clunky wooden tables and chairs, Italian flags hanging from the eaves… Fuggedaboutit! Eighties-style mom-and-pop Italian restaurants have a place in our heart (as do pitchers of sangria filled with fruit) - but these two new joints are dishing up as much style as they are modern, Italian-inspired meals.
✖ New York Italian meets Based on a US military slang word that is used to describe something fake. This playful, tongue-in-cheek brand pays homage to the ’Italian” food developed in New York City and its surrounding boroughs. Imagine Mafia dons sitting around a table eating spaghetti and meatballs or chicken parmigiana, and you get the deal. Luckily, Fugazzi is less “crime family in dour 1950s” and more about getting together with actual family for a couple of laughs in a booth at a diner. They combine loads of clever, on-trend elements with some real retro nods. Enrike de Villiers of Sketch Interior Architects has mixed terrazzo floors with charming red-leather-lined booths, wooden accents and glass bricks, and the result is engaging and vibrant. Add Leanie Nortjé of Fount Studio’s playful branding of menus, wall decor and packaging for maximum modern fun. The hot olives as a snack and malfatti as a starter, followed by the Rigatoni Quattrogazzi or Cacio e Pepe pizza, and a top-notch Old Fashioned or three to go with it all. Their playlist is hard to beat - from Lauryn Hill to George Michael and Fleetwood Mac, it offers a continuous loop of old-school delights.
