A Taste of Italy

Antica Australis will be an Italian restaurant, but something completely different than what most Australians are used to. Kelly and Paolo, the duo behind this new venture, will be recreating an Italian 'locanda' (more casual dining than a restaurant, directly translates as an 'inn') - a place to rest and relax and restore your spirits, and bringing authentic regional Italian home-cooking to Carcoar.

Paolo Picarazzi is from a 'hidden' food and wine region in Central Italy called Ciociaria [cho-sha-ria] which is one hour south from Rome and in between Rome and Naples. He will be recreating many of his grandmother's recipes as well as traditional recipes from his region which date back to Roman times. Paolo emigrated to Australia six years ago after meeting Kelly in Abu Dhabi in the Middle East where they were both working. Opening his own 'restaurant not a restaurant' has been his dream for many years. Kelly runs Silver Compass Tours specialising in packaged tours for visitors to the Orange region during the local food and wine festivals, and also hosts Wild Heart of Italy food and wine adventures to Paolo's home region each year.

'We are really excited,' said Kelly, 'about setting up Antica in Carcoar, and would like to say a big thank you to our locals for making us feel so welcome here already. We've got a lot of work to do behind the scenes to get Antica up and running, so stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram pages for more details @AnticaCarcoar'