Ciao a tutti - hello everyone:
We have just returned from a highly successful festival run during the Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival in the UAE - presenting 16 cultural dining events to over 250 guests in the space of three weeks! Paolo cooked for 21 days straight - and it was worth it to learn that the Antica Experience we have created together absolutely resonates with guests from all over the world. We were honestly astonished by our warm reception.
We were also exceptionally honoured to host His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah with distinguished guests - including the Italian Ambassador to the UAE and the Australian Consul-General - and we have been invited back for next year’s festival already.
You can read about our Antica Australis festival pop-up here »
Now that we have returned to Carcoar - BOOKINGS ARE OPEN!
To reflect the current true value of the local produce we serve and the experience we are presenting, from March 2024 we will be serving a five-course set menu for $150 per person. This includes a glass of local sparkling (non-alcoholic option for drivers) and amuse bouche on arrival, plus complimentary stovetop espresso and biscuits following the five-course meal. Price includes storytelling experience, all corkage fees, GST and there are no additional charges for weekends or public holidays.
Our opening hours for weekends from March will be Saturday lunch 1pm & dinner 7pm plus Sunday lunch 1pm. Places will now be strictly limited to approx. 20 guests per dining session to keep this a small and intimate dining experience.
Antica will open for Thursday or Friday dinner sessions for private groups of minimum 10 guests on request.
We are currently taking bookings & reservations up until end of June 2024.
View our March/April five course set menu.
“In the tiny town of Carcoar, Paolo & Kelly Picarazzi have created a little piece of Italy, offering an unforgettable dining experience that comes with a distinctly local flavour.”
Delicious Magazine has featured Antica Australia across a seven-page feature for their March 2024 Italian Issue. Paolo was asked to provide four seasonal recipes and they loved them so much they have published them all! Proud to be supporting our local producers - March is fig, hazelnut, stone fruit and saffron season.
Grab a copy of the magazine for Paolo’s traditional recipes for figs wrapped in prosciutto, hazelnut risotto, roast pork with plums and saffron budino.
You’ll find (most of) these also starring on our March/April set menu.
“Dedication dining: it’s a deliciously heartfelt way to put one country town well and truly on the map.”
MARCH/APRIL SET MENU » INSPIRED BY THE LOCAL HARVEST SEASON.
BENVENUTO // amuse-bouche & choice of glass of sparkling on arrival - Cargo Road Wines Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc or Hello Lovelies Cherry & Wild Fennel Sparkling.
ANTIPASTO // Fico e Prosciutto - fresh Mr Fig Cowra fig filled with local Jannei goats cheese wrapped in prosciutto. Pair with Sparkling or Chardonnay.
PRIMO // Pasta con Nocciole - artisanal pasta with a FourJay Farms hazelnut sauce. Pair with Riesling or Chardonnay.
SECONDO // Agnello alla Romana - 2,000 year old ancient Roman dish of lamb with anchovies served with fresh beetroot salad. Pair with Pinot Noir or other light red.
DOLCE // Budino Zafferano al Caramello - medieval milk pudding infused with local Argyle Australian Saffron served with salted popcorn & caramel.
ANTICA TRAVEL CO. » WILD HEART OF ITALY CULTURAL TRAVEL EXPERIENCES & CIOCIARIA GOURMET CYCLING TOURS.
We are just about fully booked for our Wild Heart of Italy Cultural Travel Experiences to Paolo’s home region of Ciociaria in central Italy for September 2024 and September 2025. We can squeeze in a couple of extra guests for just two of the upcoming available dates, more details below. We are really aiming to keep these groups to 12 guests or less so it’s a more intimate travel experience.
Our four additional gourmet cycling tours with Bespoke Cycle Tours are all fully booked for September 2024 and September 2025 - if you’re interested in joining a waitlist for 2025 or signing up for 2026 contact Colin Bransgrove through the links below.
Paolo & Kelly, Co-Creators
Antica Australis | Antica Travel Co.
WILD HEART OF ITALY » our 1-8 September 2024 and 21-28 September 2025 cultural travel experiences exploring the food, wine and ancient history of Ciociaria in the Wild Heart of Italy are now fully booked.
We still have a couple of places available for the following dates if you’d like to reserve your place now before we open public bookings:
Sunday 22 to Sunday 29 September 2024
Sunday 31 August to Sunday 7 September 2025
CIOCIARIA GOURMET CYCLE TOURS » if cycling adventures in between food & wine & cultural exploration sounds like your thing, we have also designed an itinerary for bespoke Ciociaria Gourmet Cycle Tours in partnership with Colin Bransgrove of Bespoke Cycle Tours - who has just been presented with Gold as the Australian winner for Cycle Tours at the recent World Luxury Travel Awards.
Our two cycling tours for September 2024 are already fully booked, however there may still be space available for the September 2025 tours if you contact Colin direct through the link below.