Up until now I had been brunching with friends one on one but when Toni saw a deal at Fratelli Fresh I thought it would be an ideal time to get a group together and see how that dynamic worked. I love Fratelli Fresh at the Entertainment Quarter. The staff are so friendly and they always remember you (or pretend they do.) It’s also right near Hoyts cinema so the plan was to catch a movie afterwards depending what was on and how we all felt. (The movie did not happen)

Kelly met me at my place and we walked up to the Entertainment Quarter in an effort to pre walk off brunch. Liza and Toni met us there and Alice had advised she was 5 mins out. Of course we ordered a round of espresso martinis to start, after all if coffee or juice is involved it’s basically a breakfast drink.

and we waited…

and waited…

and waited.

In the end we decided to start. Apparently Alice had gotten onto the wrong bus and somehow ended up in Kingsford! It’s easy to forgive her though as she is American (although she’s lived in Australia for several years) and cannot be blamed for not understanding our public transportation. Also she’s fabulous!

While I am not a massive fan of bruschetta (raw tomato phobia) or olives I enjoyed grazing on this substantial antipasti board. The meats included parma ham, cotta ham and spicy salumi. There was also buffalo mozzarella, gorgonzola (would have liked a little more of this) semi dried tomatoes and focaccia with rosemary.

After a few rounds of espresso martinis we moved on the the Aperol Spritzes. Finally Alice arrived. Introductions were made and we moved on to our Secondi. At first we thought we had to choose between the two types of pizza and pasta, but apparently that is only for tables of two and we were now five. Out came two pizzas. A margarita and a diavola which is covered in salumi and is quite spicy. Also two large bowls of pasta. A delicious ragu penne and a mushroom and ricotta ravioli with gorgonzola cream. I’m not generally one for a meatless pasta but this is a must if you’re ever at Fratelli. Seriously if they sold that sauce separately I’d buy a container to take home. We ordered more Aperol and noshed in and this is when it happened. While mopping up the last of the sauce with Sonoma garlic bread I realised not one photo had been taken of this excellent meal! I had been too distracted, hungry and social! EEP! The first rule of food blogging had been broken. So I took a photo of my drink.

Of course to make up for it I decided to take a photo of the lovely chef in front of the wood stone oven. Unfortunately this is not our pizza – but this may be the guy who made our pizza? What can I say? I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and your head can fill in the delicious blanks.

We laughed, we chatted, we ordered more drinks. Except for Alice who decided to order a coke? Dolci arrived which was their signature banoffee pie. The toffee in the banoffee was delicious but the base was a little heavy. As our 2 hours drew to a close we grabbed the bill and laughed as we realised Alice had been charged an additional $ 5.50 on the bill for the coke which they graciously waived after we advised she had arrived almost 40 minutes late and had hardly drunk a thing.

I’m not sure group Bottomless Brunching in conducive to blogging but we all had a great time. So fingers crossed dear readers this is the one and only time I break the first rule of food blogging, the camera eats first, thanks Simon. As we left with laughter on our lips and a little stagger in our walk we headed towards home (via the Shakespeare Hotel)

📍 where – 211 Bent St Entertainment Quarter Sydney (or 6 other locations)

🌏 www – http://www.fratellifresh.com.au/

☕️🍸🍹🍊🍷🍺🥂 bottomless – espresso martinis, Aperol Spritz, Fratelli wines & house beer

💵 how much – $29 for bottomless $50 for 3 courses

🍕🍝🥗 food – 3 course set Italian sharing menu

⌚️ how long – 2 hours

🗓 when – Friday, Saturday & Sunday lunch and dinner