Pilu at Freshwater

Italian$$$

Every time I visit Pilu at Freshwater, chef Giovanni Pilu and his wife Marilyn Annecchini’s 22-year-old Sardinian restaurant, I’m conflicted. Do I order the suckling pig, a mainstay on the menu since the day they opened, or do I branch out? And here’s the thing – the pig always wins.

The maialetto has had many iterations over its decades-old tenure. But two truths remain: shatteringly crisp, deeply burnished skin and tender, almost milky-sweet meat. Today, it’s served with a side of sheep’s milk yoghurt and sweet pickled cabbage to gently cut the richness.

There are a few venues in Sydney serving the food of Pilu’s beloved Western Italian island, but this remains the city’s only Sardinian fine diner. And it’s taut as ever.

It’s a special feeling, making your way up the garden path and into the heritage listed beach house (it was actually a boarding house in the 1950s – what a place to rent a room) which looks over Freshwater Beach. Beachcombers amble along the shoreline, surfers make the most of a moderate swell and a few brave souls are taking a dip. No, not every seat is a window seat, but even the tables in the middle of the dining room have a great view.

Come summer, Pilu will welcome visitors from further afield, but on a sunny winter afternoon, we’re surrounded by locals. There’s a real sense of conviviality in the room. Pilu and Annecchini visit tables, greeting diners like old friends. They may have recently opened their second restaurant, Flaminia in Circular Quay, but there’s no lapse in attention here.

Many of the floor staff are proudly Sardinian, and keen to share their food and wine knowledge. It’s a rich and storied menu, built on a strong sense of place. Ask them about the tonno alla Carlofortina – an ode to the centuries-old relationship between Liguria and the Italian island, famous for its tuna fishing.

Here, they’ve interpreted the classic as a crudo of raw yellowfin tuna, dotted with sweet, tender pine nuts, a little pesto and finished with a sweet, vinegary gazpacho poured at the table. Perfect with a side of crisp, salty Sardinian flatbread.

Culurgiones, Sardinia’s answer to ravioli, are stuffed with pureed potato and onion and folded in a way that makes each resemble a plump ear of wheat. Giovanni Pilu runs a teaching kitchen here. That means chefs learn the foundations, from butchery to sauces such as the deeply flavourful lamb reduction which is drizzled all over that stuffed pasta. All this, and garnished with razor-thin slices of pickled onion. It’s sharp cooking.

The wine list is also strongly Sardinian, with an impressive by-the-glass selection. Check out the Tiernu Bovale DOC – like eating a bunch of raspberries while sitting in a herb patch in the afternoon sun (and perfect with the culurgiones).

There’s a tasting menu (seven courses for $195) that showcases the house favourites, including Moreton Bay bug spaghetti with the restaurant’s own bottarga, as well as the tuna and the suckling pig, but we opt to fill the table and share. How hard you decide to go depends on you, but around four dishes plus sides such as the roast cocktail potatoes with rosemary and salt is about right.

Whatever you do, don’t miss the fioretto – cauliflower blossoms dressed in a sort of crumbled almond crunch lifted with lemon – and the cavoletti. That’s Brussels sprouts roasted and dressed in a sweet grape reduction. It’s about as close to a confection as a brassica may ever get.

First time dining here? Lean into signatures, such as the seadas for dessert. The Sardinian fried pastry is stuffed with whipped ricotta sweetened with Mona Vale honey and orange compote. Or try the cool, creamy rice pudding covered in thin slices of fresh fig, little elderflowers and a scattering of pistachio praline for crunch.

This is a restaurant that rewards time. If you’re not a local, set aside an afternoon for a long lunch. Take the ferry. If your legs are feeling good and the weather is holding, take a post-prandial stroll from the restaurant back along Manly Beach – crisp sea air, people aggressively recreating… What could possibly improve your life choices at this point?

The low-down

Atmosphere: Coastie casual in style, fine dining in substance

Go-to dishes: Tonno alla carlofortina ($45); culurgiones ($33); maioletto ($75); cavoletti ($20); seadas ($22)

Drinks: A deep-dive into Sardinian wine and a surprisingly lengthy beer list

Cost: Around $250 for two, excluding drinks

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

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