Walking into Fine Food Cucina is like stepping inside your Nonna’s kitchen — there’s chatting, laughter and delicious Italian food, everywhere!
Photo :: Wayne Pearson
Located in the heart of Newton, Fine Food Cucina makes authentic Italian ready-made meals to eat in or take away. Proud owner Dario Fontanarosa owes his business to his biggest mentor, his Nonna.
“Growing up, I watched my Nonna cook every night and wrote down all her recipes so, one day, I could share them with the world.”
Photo :: Wayne Pearson
Cooking at home turned into Dario whipping up feasts for his workers on building sites. They loved his food so much that orders from family and friends came in thick and fast — the next obvious step was to create his own restaurant and share his Nonna’s legacy with all of South Australia.
And we couldn’t love it any more if we tried. Dario’s passion for food and family history is ingrained in his business. “I have beautiful memories of Nonna making her signature lasagna and she would say ‘Benedicia’, do the sign of the cross and bless the family’s meal every night. So, this is what I like to do at Fine Food — we make home-cooked, good tasting, nothing-fancy-food that we bless and you can take it home to share the love with family and friends.”
Photo :: Wayne Pearson
As a fellow Italian, I sometimes feel like my body is 98 percent pasta sauce… and so does Dario!
“The bolognese sauce is cooked for hours. The sheets of pasta are made by hand, and we bake fresh bread several times a day. Our lasagne sheets are all homemade, covered in homemade sauce with lots of cheese all the way to the edge — I hate when cooks skimp on the cheese,” laughs Dario.
Fine Food Cucina is open six days a week (Monday to Saturday), with a special focus on Tuesdays and Saturdays — it’s Porchetta Day! Enjoy their Porchetta served with homemade coleslaw in a delicious panini, or just eat it as is.
Photo :: Wayne Pearson
All the wine
You can purchase a bottle of Dario’s homemade wine ‘El Marie’ named after his two Nonnas, Elena and Maria, or grab a great SA brand, like Ambra Spirits. They also stock local gins and delicious wines from Italy!
Ready made meals
The chefs make all their food to go, so you can take authentic Italian meals home with you every night. And for your next party or event? I’ve ordered delicious pizzas, beef and vegetarian lasagnes, eggplant parmigiana, zeppoli, arancini, olive ascolane, with antipasto platters and panini boards for family gatherings and they never disappoint.
Lauren xx
