The Restaurant
In 1987, Armando Percuoco opened Buon Ricordo in a Paddington terrace and began cooking the food of Naples with a level of personal conviction that the Sydney dining scene had not seen before. The name means Good Memory in Italian, and the name has proven prophetic: thirty-seven years on, Buon Ricordo is one of the most beloved restaurant addresses in Australia, a room where loyal diners return for decades and bring their children when they are old enough to appreciate what they are eating.
The room itself is warm in the truest sense: white linen tablecloths, floral upholstery, art-lined walls, mirrored ceiling, white-jacketed waiters who have worked the room long enough to remember your name. It evokes Italian fine dining in the manner that Italian fine dining should evoke itself — generous, convivial, and unembarrassed about pleasure. There is nothing cold or minimalist about Buon Ricordo, and that is exactly the point.
In 2018, Armando Percuoco stepped back and long-time head chef David Wright and his wife Rosalba Bertocci took over. The transition was handled with uncommon grace: the traditions that defined the room have been preserved while the kitchen has continued to evolve. The fettuccine al tartufovo — the truffle-egg pasta that has been called the best pasta in the world by Italy's Grazie magazine — remains on the menu and remains the reason most first-time visitors book.
Buon Ricordo is open Wednesday through Saturday for dinner, and Friday and Saturday for lunch. This is a restaurant that does not rush; a table here for a birthday or anniversary should be booked with the expectation of spending the full evening. The kitchen expects that. The service expects that. The wine list is built around an Italian cellar that rewards lingering.
What to Order
The fettuccine al tartufovo is not optional. It is made fresh, tossed with cream and parmesan, and crowned with shaved truffle and a fried egg that breaks at the table — theatrical in the best Italian sense and genuinely one of the most discussed pasta dishes in Australian dining history. After this, the kitchen's seafood preparations are the safest guide through the rest of the menu: consistent, seasonally driven, and precisely cooked.
Best Occasion: Birthday
Buon Ricordo is the birthday restaurant for someone who has reached the age at which novelty matters less than quality and warmth. The room is designed for celebration without fanfare — the service has the instinct for when to bring a candle, when to top up the glass without being asked, and when to leave people to their conversation. No restaurant in Sydney generates more returning birthday bookings. For other birthday options across the city, see the guide to birthday restaurants in Sydney.
Also Consider
For another Paddington Italian institution with a different register, Lucio's on Windsor Street is the gallery-restaurant where Australian artists and their patrons have eaten for four decades. For modern Italian with a younger energy, Otto Ristorante at Woolloomooloo Wharf provides the harbour setting and a more contemporary interpretation of Italian cooking. The Sydney restaurant guide covers all occasions.