By Suzan Ryan, editor bars&clubs
World champion pizza chef and owner of Lygon Street's much-loved 400 Gradi restaurant, Johnny Di Francesco, will open his brand new Italian-style wine bar in three weeks.
The new bar 400 Gradi Cicchetti will open right next door to Di Francesco’s pizzeria, 400 Gradi, and replicate a traditional bacari (an earthy version of a wine bar) – the cicheti comes from an Italian term for ‘eating small quantities’.
Di Francesco won the 2014 Pizza World Championship (Campionato Mondiale della Pizza) in Parma, Italy, earlier this year. His dedication to making impressive pizza also secured him the coveted position of Australasian Principal of V.P.N., an international association based in Naples that is dedicated to protecting and promoting authentic Neapolitan Pizza. Only two chefs in Australia have been awarded this honour.
The interiors of 400 Gradi Cicchetti were designed by award-winning designer, Pascale Gomes-McNabb, who is behind the fresh interiors of venues such as Cumulus Inc., and Stokehouse in Melbourne and Bentley Restaurant and Bar and Claude’s in Sydney.
The 50-person bar will be confluent with the Italian heritage of 400 Gradi and feature an extensive wine list and tasting plates menu.
400 Gradi Cicchetti is located at 99 Lygon Street, Brunswick East.