What if we told you there was a way to experience the Suze crew’s exceptional take on hospitality in a more casual, more convivial and perhaps more impromptu setting? It’s the real deal at Nina, the new diner that brings together co-owner Steve Harry’s brilliant cooking in a tight edit of pasta dishes and Giulia Giorgetti’s talent when it comes to wine.
There’s a ribboned mafaldine powered up with pistachio and spring veggies, king prawns star in bottoni accented with tarragon, and the casarecce comes bathed in a white beef ragu.
And if you know anything about Harry’s cooking, you’ll know about his focaccia. It was a hit back in his Napier Quarter days, it’s a hit at his Fitzroy North wine bar Suze, and it’s already a hit on High Street, too. Harry and Giorgetti say their bread sets the tone for the rest of the starters at Nina, and with the likes of white anchovies paired up with a zippy gremolata, a generous dollop of ricotta dotted with roasted grapes, and a beef tartare, we can see the vision for the first half of the meal.
While pasta and bread are the mainstays, there’s more to the menu. “Some days there might be a bigger cut of meat or a whole fish – whatever looked good with our trusted farmers and mongers that morning,” Giorgetti says. “Sides stay deliberately simple: one or two, changing with the seasons. And one dessert. Just enough to fix a sugar craving.”
Drinks? Absolutely. There are 40 or so bottles on offer, with most from either Italy or the land down under, and about half of those available by the glass. Producers from the great state of Victoria – including your Patrick Sullivans, your Athletes of Wines and your Payten & Joneses – make up a considerable portion of the Aussie offering.
Nina has taken over the site that was formerly Vex, a familiar space for diners and drinkers of the inner-north, and Harry and Giorgetti have done just enough to make it feel like their own while still retaining a sense of familiarity. There’s a large communal table primed for a good time, a couple of four-seaters dotted around the bar, and then there’s a handful of pillows lining the inset of the front window for when the team needs to squeeze a few more bums on a few more seats.
One key change: it’s walk-ins only. We’ll see you at the bar.
Nina, 66–68 High St, Northcote, 5pm–late Tues–Fri, 12 noon–late Sat, walk-ins only for groups under six, 03 9820 3081, @nina.pastabar