Surry Hills' Italian Wine Bar
Pellegrino 2000 on Foveaux Street is Surry Hills' reference modern Italian wine bar — handmade pastas, a serious Italian wine list, and the considered small-plate format that has earned the room two SMH hats.
The cooking is contemporary Italian at restaurant-grade discipline: pasta rolled daily, considered antipasti, careful seasonal mains, and the kind of regional Italian wine programme the format demands.
What to Order
Pasta first — daily-rolled, the seasonal preparations are the strongest part. Antipasti from the kitchen's small-plate selection; seasonal mains rotated weekly. The wine list rewards a small-producer Italian bottle ordered with care.
The Format
The dining room is intimate, warm, and unmistakably wine-bar in its register. The bar handles walk-ins; the dining room takes reservations.
Best Occasion: First Date
Pellegrino is one of Surry Hills' best first-date rooms. The format provides natural sharing; the wine programme provides the conversation; the room is intimate without being intimidating.