Fermento: Darlinghurst’s Little Italian Secret

Fermento has just opened up a little venue in the heart of Darlinghurst and it must be said that it’s Darlinghurst’s best new secret. ...
Credit: Fermento

Fermento has just opened up a little venue in the heart of Darlinghurst and it must be said that it’s Darlinghurst’s best new secret.

Right across the road from Darlo Bar lies a small nook on the corner. In this nook you will find a rustic vibe, great food, fantastic wine, and passion. No one knows it’s there, it’s almost a secret, but some secrets need to be revealed for the good of the people. Fermento is the brainchild of Diego and Giorgio, a food and wine bar representing what they love. What do they love? Food, wine, and amazing vibes, of course!

When you walk into Fermento the first thing you notice is how small and intimate it is. It’s like a rustic Italian cottage of sorts. You can smell the food cooking and your mouth immediately starts slavering. But before you eat, you must try the wine.

Fermento is passionate about wine, and they absolutely know what’s good and what’s not. Having their wines supplied from 12 Bottles and Il Mercante certainly convinced us we were in for a treat too. We tried the Sicilian 2020 Fondo Antico Grillo Parlante which had a flowery and fruity taste to it that was simply divine. I personally couldn’t get enough of it, but that was nothing compared to the delicious Sardinian Sardus Pater red we had after dinner. It featured incredible flavours of red fruit, strawberries, aromatic herbs with a hint of spice. These wines were absolutely fantastic pairings with our food. Speaking of which…

The food served at Fermento is absolutely fantastic. We tried a wide range of the menu starting with homemade garlic pinsa bread which of course was great because who has ever had bad garlic bread? Next up was the burrata served with roasted zucchini and crunchy nduja which was the creamiest and silkiest cheese we’ve ever tried. The zucchini wasn’t half bad either. It was a great start to the evening.

What really caught me off guard was just how good the eggplant parmy rolls were! They were these little rolls with buffalo wrapped in eggplant and topped with Napoli sauce, parmigiano, basil sauce, and a balsamic reduction. I’m lactose intolerant but my god was this worth the pain! No praise could be higher.

The stuffed mushrooms were a delightful surprise as well. I really enjoyed the pork and fennel sausage in there and that truffle oil was really the cherry on top.

My least favourite of the entrees was the seared calamari which by no means was bad, but it was slightly chewier and crunchier than I personally would have liked but I thoroughly enjoyed the chili it was served with.

The grand finale was the prosciutto pizza which was absolutely to die for. I love my prosciutto so tasting the aged San Daniele prosciutto was like heaven in my mouth. This isn’t a prosciutto pizza that you can get just anywhere with cheap Woolworths prosciutto. No, no, no monsieur this is the real deal, and you can absolutely taste the difference.

While that was great, I wasn’t too fond of the prawn ravioli as all I felt I could taste was the lemon butter sauce. It wasn’t bad, but in comparison to the rest of the food it was a little lacklustre.

The food prices are quite reasonable as well as it’s the wine where you’ll be spending most of your cash. But it’s all worth it.

As an added touch there is also live music on Mondays and Thursdays to really put you in the mood.

Go out and discover Darlinghurst’s secret, you won’t regret it.

For more restaurant content, check out what we thought of Bar Totti’s in Sydney’s CBD!

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