It’s adored by locals and has won awards in Italy (seriously). So, what makes it so good?
Elementi
Italian$$
Restaurants, at their best, have the potential to become cultural objects.
Maybe it’s through a consistent authenticity, or by becoming a landmark, or simply by being a regular gathering place for locals. But a good restaurant run well with real hospitality tends to become part of a place and its collective memory, much like a gallery, or museum, or park.
Elementi, if not a cultural object, is close to it. And I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a restaurant achieve this kind of mindshare so fast in this city. It seemed almost immediate after it opened in 2021.
Maybe it was a hangover from the pandemic, or maybe it was the location in Paddington, where operators come and go more regularly than they perhaps should – meaning locals tend to bum rush the good ones – but the place was a hit.
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Best pizza in town, they said. But don’t ignore the house-made pasta, they continued. And BTW, the snack game is on point, they mentioned also.
It all checked out. And, five years on across two visits, it continues to check out. Elementi’s menu changes regularly (or has up until this point – more on that later), but the restaurant’s warm hospitality and consistent excellence does not.
As is typical, the place is beginning to pack out with locals when my dining partner and I rock up at 6pm on a Sunday night. There are no bookings at Elementi (except for Saturday and Sunday lunch), but this isn’t a “queue or lose” deal; the crew are dab hands at triaging everyone to a table.
We begin by picking our way through a couple of assaggini and antipasti. Crisp-fried pastry piped full of ricotta and served with olive jam, tomato compote and capers maybe registers more for its texture than taste, but it boasts a vibrant acidity that enlivens the palate for what comes after.
Charred Western Australia octopus tentacle is relatively straight-up Mediterranean comfort food, but precisely delivered by Elementi’s chefs with a delicately smoked carrot puree and pickled radish.
Really, though, you’re coming to Elementi for the pizza and, to a slightly lesser extent, the pasta. Nothing I eat from this part of the menu disappoints.
Departing co-owner and pizzaiolo Stefano Spataro is an award winner for his woodfired pizza so you trust him with the Emilia – pumpkin puree, pork sausage, provola, mozzarella, onion – but it’s still a revelation how well it comes together, the luscious pork with the silken pumpkin and crispy onion that you end up absentmindedly eating from the top like French fries.
More in the realm of the classics is a salamino piccante number finished with kalamata olives that features a crisp, airy crust and the molten, almost soupy centre that defines the most delicious woodfired pizza. It’s certainly some of the best I’ve had in Brisbane, if not the country.
I’m a bit bummed after the event to learn the soul-warming beef rib and tomato ragu orecchiette we eat is in the process of being shifted off the menu, but when I try its replacement, it’s arguably even better: egg rigatoni served with a vibrant lamb ragu that layers on the flavour without layering on the egregious heaviness often associated with the dish. It’s a cracking bowl of pasta.
For dessert, a dark chocolate mattoncino with mango compote and berry coulis is good, but outshone by a take on a strudel that I’ll long remember, its lemon custard and apple compote sweetened just so, the puff pastry crackling and breaking as we haphazardly carve up the thing.
And then there’s the wine. Owner Mauricio Zarate Castillo is known for his playful by-the-glass selections, and it’s no different on my visits. I drink a racy Pasqua Hey French: You Could Have Made This But You Didn’t blend of garganega, pinot bianco and sauvignon blanc, and a lively, dynamic Tenuta Volpare chardonnay. Both sing from the same hymn sheet as the characterful food.
If nothing else, Elementi’s worth is in how consistent Castillo and company keep the experience when everything that lands in front of you is always changing. There’s a silent contract here between restaurateur and guest where we trust that their flights of fancy won’t veer off into self-indulgence.
It’s not the flashiest dining room in town, but you’re here for the food. Likewise, service can get a little ropey at times, but you’re in it for the smiling, genuine hospitality.
It’s worth noting that things are quietly changing at Elementi. As of early May, Castillo has taken sole ownership of the venue, and he says to expect the constant evolution on the menu to slow down just a little.
Otherwise, the weather is finally turning in Brisbane. Winter is almost upon us. It’s a good time to experience this cherished Paddington restaurant’s warm embrace.
The low-down
Atmosphere: Buzzy casual dining among well-heeled Paddington locals.
Go-to dishes: Emilia pizza, lamb ragu rigatoni, apple strudel.
Drinks: Giddy, engaging cellar list that leans Italian, with plenty by the glass.
Cost: About $170 for two, not including drinks.
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.
