Wintersun at Bondi Trattoria, Bondi Beach

Gone is the Bondi Tratt of yesteryear. The 30 year old restaurant on Bondi's Campbell Parade has had a makeoever and a new team including Luke Mangan's former right hand man Joe Pavlovich. The menu has been revamped but only one dish remains, an adaption of the old Bondi Tratt classic.

It's winter in Sydney and in the distance do you think the surfers and sunbathers care? Not a bit if the crowds are anything to go by. Sun provides a balm that people crave and it's business at usual at Sydney's busiest beach.

Inside Bondi Tratt, some of the pictures on the walls remain the same but are pared down. It reopened over a month ago and it is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week.

The menu has modern Australian and Italian dishes and is seafood focused which isn't a surprise given the waterfront location. I can't resist tarama especially with fresh, soft flat bread. This creamy dip has lemon oil, fennel pollen and fine shavings of bottarga on top that really brings out the salty, sea flavour of the tarama perfectly.

Yup that price is right, half a dozen delicious diamond clams for a steal with a fabulous black pepper and shallot vinaigrette. They're fresh and delicious and I suggest you grab them before the price goes up (shh don't tell them).

Next we try a generous serve of roasted balmain bug tail meat with a moreish garlic and chilli butter and pieces of melted buffalo mozzarella. Be warned though, you will want bread with this number to mop up the butter (and I also added some tarama onto the crunchy crusted bread just because).

This is the dish that they adapted because they weren't allowed to use any of the same menu items are before. The tuna is soft, barely cooked and in large chunks with angel hair pasta, zuhccini, chilli, lemon and capers. It's a simple but gorgeous pasta dish done well.

While the menu is Italian what is a bit of saganaki between friends? This is a sweet, hot side with roasted spiced carrots, fried saganaki cheese. It is very sweet with honey but I do love the squeaky appeal of hot, melted, squeaky cheese. I don't know if it needs the toasted muesli though as this makes it a very sweet dish.

How do you make kale appeal to everyone? Just add bacon! There's chilli kale, Brussels sprouts, plenty of bacon, manchego, pine nuts and a fried egg on top.

Time for dessert! Rozata is a Croatian creme caramel from Joe's heritage. It's firmer than a creme caramel but ever so smooth. It's served with toasted farro, roasted orange slices and a divine freeze dried honey fluff on top that is has a wonderful crunchy texture-it's like a distant cousin of honeycomb.

This was ordered because winter feels like crumble weather. With a caramelised edged bread and butter pudding square and a scoop of rhubarb crumble ice cream and perfectly cooked rhubarb batons it straddles tart, sweet and creamy well. Alas this is a special so it isn't always on the menu which is a shame as it this is a lovely Wintery dish.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you go to the beach during winter? Did you ever go to the original Bondi Tratt? How often do you order the specials?

NQN was a guest of Bondi Trattoria but all opinions remain her own.

Bondi Trattoria

34 Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach NSW 2026
Breakfast 8.00 – 11.15
Lunch/Dinner 12.00 – late
Limited menu 3.30pm – 5pm
www.bonditrattoria.com.au/
T +61 (0)2 9365 4303