Mauro Marcucci of Melbourne's Caffe e cucina opens this new pizzeria cum wine bar in Neutral Bay. A very Melbourne kind of wine bar with a huge but not very expensive wine list and a very Italian menu adds excitement to this lower north shore suburb. We are excited as it is just 100 mtr from our home. It has only been open for 3 weeks and the service still has a way to go. They took forever to take our order and even longer to get the meals. The pizza was really good and moist and full of flavor. The slow cooked lamb shoulder was the highlight of the night and if for no other reason than this  - I will come back. The risotto was a bit bland and the linguini a bit under cooked. Another reason to come back is the soft centred chocolate cake…very nice!  Bit noisy and very crowded but I guess it is only 3 weeks old…has potential.

Slow cooked lamb shoulder with farro risotto and tuscan cabbage

Bug meat risotto with spiced tomato broth and crustacean oil

Lucifero - Pizza with hot salami, mushrooms, onions, tomato sauce, buffalo mozzeralla, chilli olive oil and basil

Linguini with fish and shell fish, garlic, chilli and extra virgin olive oil

Soft centred chocolate tort, cocoa and ginger sorbet