No Menu Finest Italian 448

At his eponymous Fitzgerald Street restaurant, Maurizio, Maurizio Di Ciano was all about the tablecloths, theatre and filigreed trappings of fine dining. At No Menu, the veteran restaurateur is going for something a little more approachable.

While undressed tables, booths and a wall mural by Perth street artist Handbrake speak to No Menu’s casual bent, Di Ciano is taking its food as seriously as ever.

The wood-fired oven inherited from previous tenant Ace Pizza will be used to bake each day’s changing selection of savoury and sweet pies while stuffed roasted capsicums is typical of the vegetable offering. The pasta, naturally, will be handmade and ranges from fish gnocchi to spaghetti chitarra served with cacio e pepe, Rome’s famously pungent one-two of black pepper and pecorino Romano cheese.

Although each day’s carte is scrawled on a blackboard, at the heart of the restaurant is its “no menu” offering, a chef’s menu of family-style dishes (from $50 per person). It’s here diners will find daily specials informed by the kitchen team’s market finds.

In the afternoons, aperitivo hour sees guests receive free finger food with every drink purchased. Saturday and Sunday brunch serves a menu of “pretty Italian food”: there’ll be eggs in purgatory (essentially an Italian shakshuka); fried eggs and fresh Italian sausage on toast; plus zabaglione, a dessert made by whisking egg yolks, sugar and masala wine that Di Ciano describes as “the Italian Red Bull”.