Da Orazio Trattoria opens in early March 2026, bringing Orazio D’Elia back to the Rushcutters Bay kitchen where his career first kicked off. The address on McLachlan Avenue has long been tied to his story, once home to Popolo, where he was acknowledged for a style of Italian cooking that balanced tradition with a light touch. Returning to the same stoves more than a decade later gives the new trattoria a sense of continuity rather than nostalgia.
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The menu looks to the trattorias of central and southern Italy, but it’s not a repeat of his Bondi venue. There’s a deliberate decision to skip pizza entirely, leaving room for dishes shaped by his childhood memories, early years travelling through Italy as a young chef, and more recent summers spent revisiting favourite regions.
His approach to Italian cooking is pared back, letting the ingredients carry the flavour. Each dish draws on the sort of recipes that live on family tables for generations.
Weekends will bring something extra: Da Orazio Pasticceria pop-ups with rotating classic sweets. It’s a way of weaving his Alexandria pasticceria into the new space without turning the menu into a greatest hits list.
Da Orazio Trattoria joins his Bondi restaurant and Alexandria bakery, rounding out a trio that each speaks to a different thread of his cooking. Once open, it will trade seven nights a week for dinner, with lunch from Thursday to Sunday.
- What: Da Orazio Trattoria
- Where: 30 McLachlan Ave, Rushcutters Bay
- When: Opening in March 2026