Let’s start with the obvious. You’ve seen the price of a lunch in Sydney. A sad salad, a “gourmet” wrap that’s 80% lettuce, and a bill that makes you wonder whether the cheese was flown in personally from Parma. Meanwhile, you’re eating it hunched over a keyboard like it’s a regional thriller.
Ciabatta (Panini e Pasta) has reopened at 1 Denison Street North Sydney, and it has done something radical for the suburb’s Business District. It has made fresh pasta for under $18.
A refreshingly honest backstory
The team behind Antica has given Ciabatta a new chapter, and founder Isabella Pagano was unusually frank about why. They realised they couldn’t compete with all the coffee shops in North Sydney, so they did what they know best and added pasta. No pivot-to-video corporate waffle. Just “we can’t beat them on flat whites, so here’s a bowl of carbs.”
She also spotted a gap, because there was no dedicated pasta bar in the area. In a postcode full of people who’d happily trade a kidney for a decent lunch, that’s basically a public service.
The damage (the good kind)
Pasta runs $15.90 to $17.90. To celebrate the reopening, a selection of dishes is just $15 until 31 October. That’s less than a questionable chicken parma and a soft drink, and it won’t leave you with a side of regret.
It’s made fresh daily, too. Monday to Friday it’s prepared just before lunch so you can be in and out before your boss notices you’ve left. On Saturdays and evenings, they cook to order.
The menu, nonna-approved
The pasta:
- Casarecce Ragu: pork ragu and tomato sugo. Comfort in a bowl.
- Gnocchi Sorrentina: tomato sugo, stracciatella, provolone and Parmigiano. Cheese on cheese on cheese. Very Italian of them.
- Penne Pesto: basil pesto, pine nuts and Parmigiano. The “I’m being good” option.
- Orecchiette Piselli: prosciutto cotto, green peas and cream. Peas, but make it fancy.
The panini, on freshly baked ciabatta:
- Prosciutto di Parma: 18-month-aged prosciutto, stracciatella, Roma tomatoes, basil and vincotto. Eighteen months. It’s been aging longer than most of your New Year’s resolutions.
- The Mortadella: stracciatella, rocket, pistachio paste and green olives.
- The Porchetta: roasted pork loin, provolone, salsa verde and pickled eggplant.
- The Pollo: chicken schnitzel, stracciatella, sundried tomatoes, rocket and basil pesto.
Now, about la scarpetta
Finally, here’s the bit that proves they mean it. Ciabatta serves house-made garlic bread and freshly baked ciabatta for la scarpetta, the sacred Italian tradition of using bread to mop up the last of the sauce. Any nonna will tell you that leaving sauce on the plate is a crime, and she will know.
Do it. Nobody’s judging. Actually, everyone’s doing it.
Wash it down with a Caffe Crema, an espresso, or a Tiramisu Iced Latte, which is dessert pretending to be a drink, and frankly we respect the hustle.
The details
Where: 1 Denison Street, North Sydney NSW
When: Monday to Saturday, 10:30am to 8:00pm
How: Takeaway, with delivery via Uber Eats and DoorDash
The deal: Selected pasta dishes $15 until 31 October 2026
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