Not far from where I live there’s a really large restaurant space on Crown Street. In the almost twenty years I’ve lived in Sydney it’s had at least four or possibly five incarnations. I remember when it was called “Thai Orchid” (or something like that) back in the nineties. I think it was when it became “Yai” that the space was expanded. A few years ago, the cuisine changed from Asian to Italian, as it became “Cafe Sicilia” and more recently, “Franco Franco”. Throughout all of these incarnations, it’s a place I’ve enjoyed going to.

As with “Cafe Sicilia”, “Franco Franco” is “very Italian” with waiters who speak Italian to each other in conversation, and the other week, as I passed I noticed there was a large family party on the balcony celebrating a child’s confirmation. The two blokes sitting to our right tonight also spoke in Italian.

“We should pay with your credit card and we might get a discount”, I joked to my friend tonight (her surname is Italian, with an immigrant family history on her father’s side). For two mains (pasta and veal), an entree (a shared meats/cheese plate), and a fair amount of wine, we spent about $70 each. Although the service was a little slow tonight, and a little bit sloppy in parts, the staff were apologetic and threw in an extra couple of glasses of wine for free. Although we had planned enjoying a tasty desert, there wasn’t anywhere near enough room by the end.