Mediterranean(ish) dining meets ’90s nostalgia at Redfern’s new neighbourhood hit

Lo Presti’s is so far up my alley, owners Rachael Trewin and Michael Lo Presti have essentially driven a ’63 Holden EJ through my front door. Trewin is a hospitality gun you may remember from managing Chippendale’s dearly missed Automata; Lo Presti was head chef at Marrickville’s Baba’s Place. With help from graphic designer Jarmaine Stojanovic on branding duties, the restaurant also channels the community-focused vibes Lo Presti experienced growing up in his family’s espresso bar. The drink coasters are reprints from that Darlinghurst cafe, now home to Bar Reggio, so don’t go looking for the advertised pinball, nachos and lasagne.

While a large part of me was keen to visit when the restaurant opened in July, I was also happy to wait until spring and all the green stuff September brings. Lo Presti knows how to coax deliciousness from vegetables like Madge Maguire could fire up the Rabbitohs. Capsicums are roasted until they’re Doc Martens-black and caramelised, before the skin is discarded and the flesh is dehydrated to fortify flavour. Further boosted with marjoram and Pedro Ximenez vinegar, the garnet-red peppers are perfect for draping across robustly crusted bread while drinking a vibrant Malvasia Riojana.

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Hunks of roasted beetroot spend the night in their cooking liquid of red-wine vinegar and brown sugar before a gentle dehydration, too, creating a texture that’s chewy, giving and gnarly all at once, teamed with rosemary on a bed of house-made yoghurt.

Broad beans are grilled and served in their pods, edamame-style; asparagus comes with avgolemono (lemon and egg) and plenty of fresh dill. Tuna toasts – crunchy thumbs of focaccia topped with preserved lemon mayonnaise, chilli-marinated broccoli and Aleppo pepper-spiced bluefin – are an essential snack. Grilled vine leaf-wrapped mulloway on roast fennel and onion tastes like a weekend in Hydra; a grilled pork chop is liberally covered in white wine, coriander and chicken stock-simmered pipis. A side of brown-butter toasted rice with garlic, ginger and spinach soaks up all the delicious juices left on share plates.