Go-to dish:Prosciutto di Parma Principe and parmigiano reggiano with carasau crispbread.Credit:Christopher Pearce
This new world is populated by young mums with prams,lunching office-workers,and – the liveliest,as ever – groups of elderly women getting together over cheeky glasses of wine.
Giovanni Pilu,whose flagship two-hatted gaff Pilu at Freshwater is but a short Vespa ride away,has secured a prime corner position with glass bi-fold doors that open onto the ocean terrace,which Cottee Parker Architects has turned into a clean,bright space of stone archways,dramatic overhead lighting and open kitchen and bar.
A pizza piccante with 'nduja,salami,fior di latte and caramelised onions.Credit:Christopher Pearce
Pilu and his head chef Rey Ambas ground the menu with easy,likeable Italian staples – puffy-crusted pizza and freshly made pasta,supported by classic antipasti,a handful of mains,and a fairytale gelato cart.
The red Berkel flywheel meat slicer parked like an Italian scooter at the door of the kitchen acts like a spruiker yelling"order the prosciutto". And I'm so glad I did. Principe's rosy,lean and fragrant San Daniele prosciutto ($23/ members $20) is beautifully handled,simply furled and sent out with paper-thin Sardinian crispbread and a few gnarly knobs of golden,dusky parmigiano.
It's a hit with a bright,juicy 2017 Colterenzio pinot grigio ($13 glass,$55 bottle/ less for members). A small platter of vitello tonnato ($23/members $20) looks the part with its smooth tuna cream topped with little flavour bombs of fried capers,but the paper-thin veal is dry and uninteresting.
Pizza comes hot,bubbly-crusted and dry-bottomed from the electric pizza oven,and there's real flavour in the dough,made with Sardinian stone-ground durum,spelt and semolina flour dough and leavened for about 48 hours,making it easier to digest.