By Sophia Phan
WHY I LOVE THIS PLACE
WHO
Sarah Ayoub is a journalist and author. She lives in south-west Sydney.
WHERE
La Disfida, Haberfield
Takeaway pizzas fly out the door of La Disfida, night after night.Credit: Brook Mitchell
La Disfida Restaurant in Haberfield quickly fills up.Credit: Brook Mitchell
WHY
The menu is solid and simple, with a good wine list and selection of Italian cocktails. The flavours are authentic, and they don't let you make any variations which often forces me to eat outside my comfort zone. And even though they don't take reservations for small parties and I'll end up waiting up to 40 minutes for a table on a Saturday night, the service is always impeccable.
WHAT
I often start with a light salad, and something like their calamari and zucchini fritti for my entree, then share a pizza with my husband (more often than not it's the capricciosa, but I also love the salsiccia el funghi, with pork sausage and wild mushrooms). Even though I've tried and enjoyed their other pastas, I'll almost always do the Casarecce. It's one of my favourite dishes in Sydney – I don't even like eggplant, which says a lot about this dish. I'll finish with a serve of tiramisu or chocolate crepes with chantilly cream.
ATMOSPHERE
The restaurant takes up two levels and when I'm upstairs, I'm always mesmerised by the detail on the old ceiling, and imagine what kind of business the old inhabitants of the upstairs rooms ran downstairs. I love the fact that it's always busy, with the kind of atmospheric noise that makes you feel like you're really enjoying life. The staff are friendly and cheerful, and the wait times are very reasonable. Staff will always offer suggestions on specials or wine pairings – and I love the nod of agreement I get when I choose a dish they're on board with. It's like getting a gold star in primary school.
Sarah Ayoub and her daughter.Credit: Nic Walker
AT HOME
I love spending time in the kitchen. I'm of Lebanese heritage [and] didn't grow up with the classic Sunday roast, so sometimes I'll do a roast chicken with lemon and thyme and all the trimmings. I make a lot of soups – chicken, chunky ham, bean and red lentil; minestrone, and if I have time, I love experimenting with risotto flavours. If I'm home on a Sunday night, I'll do a grazing board with whatever I have in the fridge – usually French cheese from The Larder in Dulwich Hill, spiced roast carrots, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, and pickles and cold meats. Mid-week it's usually a protein with kale and cabbage salad, bangers and mash, or salmon/white fish in a home-made marinade and baked sweet potato fries. I just bought a Lebanese cookbook, so I am hoping that I'll learn how to cook the foods I've grown up with too.
Sarah Ayoub's latest novel, The Yearbook Committee, is published by Harper Collins.
LA DISFIDA
★★★★☆
109 Ramsay Street, Haberfield, ladisfida.com.au
Entrees from $7, mains from $19. About $85 for two people, including wine
REVIEW
It's been a good five days since I've had bread and I am more than excited for a generous serve of authentic Italian pizza. I've never been to La Disfida, but knowing it's situated in Haberfield, Sydney's Little Italy, I know I'm in for a treat.
Conveniently located near a bus stop and a few doors down from Pasticceria Papa, the dimly lit restaurant fills up within an hour of opening. Tables upstairs, downstairs and outside are populated with people ready to get the carb load on. It's very busy for a weekday. People are coming in and out, filling tables and picking up boxes upon boxes of takeaway pizza. I was only there for about an hour or so and must have seen seven people leave with at least three boxes of pizza each. It was nice to see this in the age of delivery. (Tip: be sure to get there early if you want to get a table as they don't take bookings for small groups.)
The restaurant itself isn't particularly spacious, but it's comfortable; homey. The service is a little bit intense – but that's probably due to my indecisiveness and the waiters having to revisit our table every few minutes.
The menu, once combined with the specials menu of at least 15 dishes, takes a while to navigate. Even though I had researched the menu online a few days prior, it made no difference; there's just so much choice. And because everything is so authentic, I have to take extra time to Google what the Italian ingredients actually are.
Thankfully, the wine menu breaks down some of the confusion and explains some of the more obscure Italian wine varieties. It's a very flexible menu in that there is a wide selection of wines, as well as glass sizes, to choose from. I can confirm the La Calcinara Rosato is the perfect wine to enjoy when the temperature is soaring – they keep it on ice as well.
The dishes came out at a good pace and they were all good-sized portions.
The night started with the scallops wrapped in prosciutto – from the specials menu. It was fresh, aided by the avocado and tomato salsa, and left me wanting more. This was followed by the house cured salmon and sardine crostini with olive tapenade, (also from the specials menu). It was crunchy, salty and best enjoyed sans cutlery.
You'll be glad to hear though that the best meal of the night is on the permanent menu: the zucchini flowers. They were probably the best zucchini flowers I've ever tasted. The batter was light and crispy and the filling, super creamy. Perfection.
The pizzas were flavourful and had a crisp, thin base, which I enjoyed. I ordered the gamberi and salsiccia e funghi; both went down a treat (and with a generous drizzle of chilli oil). The toppings on both were minimal, yet the slices themselves were large. It was as authentic as you could get.
Definitely do yourself a favour and get here early. Or at least get a couple of boxes to take away.
Buon appetito!