The original plan involved dinner with visiting friends on Friday night. But thanks to a Jetstar cancellation of their flight from the NSW North Coast, our dinner was postponed twenty four hours. I made a “don’t fly with Jetstar” resolution earlier this year, I told my friend. Too many cancelled flights, too many “rules”, and not enough care for the customers, in my view. A friend in Tasmania told me via email she loathed Jetstar for precisely those reasons. And besides, for most of the flights where I’d have to choose between Virgin and Jetstar, Virgin is generally about the same price, and offers a better service.

So yeah, the plan was to catch up with an old school friend (we’ve known each other since we were both thirteen), his partner, and another old school friend of ours for dinner. My school friend and his partner were coming to Sydney for a wedding. We thought about heading off to Nomad again, but the restaurant was booked out, with only late bookings an option. So instead, we decided on Baccomatto Osteria, an Italian restaurant on Riley Street, Surry Hills.

And what a good choice it was. The food was excellent and the waiter we had was brilliant. She was friendly, very knowledgeable and passionate about the food, and, as it turned out, has a NSW North Coast connection, via family in Mullumbimby. Though at times the restaurant was a little noisy, we really enjoyed it, and I would definitely go back there. Highly recommended.

Walking back to Surry Hills, we popped into Messina for the obligatory “Surry Hills gelato experience”, and enjoyed our ice-cream in the nearby park. And, as my friends are cheese-makers, we also popped in to take in what was on offer at the nearby Maloney’s Grocery store to see what was on offer. The night was capped off with a cup of tea. A terrific Saturday night with great friends and great food.