Finally, You Can Have A Perfect Picnic Thanks to This Sicilian Trattoria

To say that small local businesses have taken a hit throughout this latest lockdown would be an understatement. For months now, local entrepreneurs have had to hunker down, reign it in, and simply wait for the storm to pass.

Perhaps among those hit hardest are our local hospitality venues, which survive on us being out and about. But while lockdown has been a hardship for many favourite cafes, restaurants, and bars, it’s also forced a creative pivot. Within days of the lockdown announcements, venues ranging from hole-in-the-wall pubs to swanky cocktail bars figured out how to get us wining and dining from home.

While we’ve learned to love a stay-in dinner, it goes without saying that it’s gotten a little bit stale. Thankfully, with picnics allowed for fully-vaccinated locals within New South Wales, the opportunity to eat outside — with up to four other people, no less— brings a whole new excitement. And there is one restaurant, in particular, that is on our must-order-from list for our upcoming picnics in the park.

Zafferano Trattoria Mediterranea

Opened in April of this year, on the tree-lined South Dowling Street in Paddington, Zafferano is a traditional Sicilian restaurant that is sure to blow away your expectations of what Italian food can do. Thanks to the current circumstances, the new restaurant barely had time to get its footing before the lockdown was established and forced the trattoria to close its doors only months after opening. Despite the setback, Zafferano has nevertheless maintained its initial vision of bringing high-quality, Sicilian foods to Sydneysiders.

“We like to keep things a little old school, from sourcing to serving, our key values remain. Being truly traditional is not only about the food on our menu, but also in the way we do business,” the trattoria’s website explains. “We have developed partnerships with local fishermen, butchers, farmers and foragers to purchase all of our ingredients, and we take an immense amount of pride in that.”

Whether you’re picking up a family pack for dinner or a Sicilian donut for breakfast, that sentiment shows. While you can’t go wrong with any of the restaurant’s pasta dishes, the Siclian-style breakfast/ lunch rolls are perhaps our favourite Zafferano order of the moment. Delicious, simple, and perfectly portable for a picnic outside, you simply can’t go wrong.

The porchetta roll boasts organic porchetta from Emilio’s specialty butcher with a lashing of caramelised onions on a fluffy roll. For the non-meat-eaters, the panelle roll with chickpea fritters and lemon juice is almost magical in its delicious simplicity. If your sweet tooth really has the better of you, the Iris Frito is a fried donut ball, which you can order filled with vanilla or hazelnut custard or traditional ricotta.

No matter what you choose, you’ll surely be transported straight to that Italian vacation you never got to take in 2020. And if you ask us, there’s no better — or more delicious — way to support small businesses. We’re all in this together, so we might as well eat well in the meantime.

To see the takeaway/ delivery menu, follow Zafferano on Instagram for the latest updates.

Interested in some takeaway drinks too? See our favourite bars offering lockdown-friendly options, here.

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