Palermo Dining

Italian$$

A couple of years ago, post-COVID, several food wonks began predicting the death of the middle-tier restaurant. I might have been one of them. Operating costs are soaring; diners have a threshold on how much they want to spend on pasta, a roast chicken or half a duck. Soon, there will only be large-scale restaurants with risk-managed concepts and deep pockets, or shoestring-budget joints where the owner-chef also works the floor.

In Penrith, the future is now. Mulgoa Road is dominated by Panthers Leagues and its satellite moons such as Outback Steakhouse and Rashays. On a recent Saturday night, the oversized Italian Street Kitchen at Panthers was rammed with punters exercising their great Australian right to enjoy a club steak subsidised by pokie addiction.

Meanwhile at Palermo Dining, a few blocks away among the small bakeries and takeaways of High Street, Ross Dobson rolls eggplant involtini, takes wine orders and drops off panelle chickpea fritters for guests to snack on while they consider the menu.

The room is lit by lamps that look like they were purchased from my grandma’s deceased-estate sale, as do the lace tablecloths, floral flatware and sepia landscapes hanging on the walls. Dobson tells me that most of this stuff was actually sourced from Penrith City Auctions, Sicilian flea markets and his mother.

You may recognise Dobson’s name from his many recipe books, including the beautifully produced and ambitious Australia: The Cookbook, published by Phaidon. If you were dialled into Penrith’s restaurant scene in the early 2010s, you will also remember the genuinely nice bloke as the founder of tapas-focused The Union. Dobson sold that business in 2016 and it closed eight years later.

When presented with the opportunity to open something new at the old Union site, Dobson decided rustic Sicilian was the answer. There’s a strong southern Italian contingent in Penrith’s neighbouring suburbs and the modest kitchen required relatively simple recipes to cook.

It’s a short menu bolstered by a few blackboard specials, and I can’t imagine anyone bypassing the lasagne when it’s listed: charred and craggy edges harnessing a light bechamel; the milk-braised pork and fennel filling, long flavoured and meaty. All discourse regarding “Sydney’s best lasagne” must henceforth include this guy.

The prupetti meatballs are real beauties, too, fat with beef mince, breadcrumbs, currants and pine nuts. Little heaps of slow-cooked tomato, goat’s curd and basil taste as bright and lush as they look next to golden crostini; grilled provolone with lemon honey and oregano needs wine to cut through the richness, and there’s a $49 bottle of Hilltops fiano from Ravensworth perfect for the job.

A slice of chocolate, hazelnut and orange cake, as thick as the night air, had me wishing for a selection of amaro to finish, but that would hardly be conducive to the 50-kilometre drive home.

This is not a place for anyone who gravitates towards marble bars, beach views and novella-thick wine lists. You can’t redeem Panther Points; a bottomless brunch is not offered; you will need to use the phone to call and book. However, if you reckon warm service and comfort-first cooking is more important than a nice new chair, give Dobson a bell today. Palermo Dining is a big win for the little guys.

The low-down

Atmosphere: Family dinner in a Sicilian thrift shop

Go-to dishes: Crostini with slow-cooked tomato, goat’s curd and basil ($18); prupetti meatballs ($34); pork and fennel lasagne ($32); chocolate, hazelnut and orange cake ($16)

Drinks: A few competitively priced Australian wines, Moretti lager and an Aperol spritz

Cost: About $120 for two, excluding drinks

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine

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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