Pilloni

CONTACT

166 Hardgrave Road
West End, 4101 QLD
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Opening Hours

SUN 12:00pm - 2:30pm
  5:00pm - 10:00pm
MON closed
TUE closed
WED 5:00pm - 10:00pm
THU 5:00pm - 10:00pm
FRI 5:00pm - 10:00pm
SAT 12:00pm - 2:30pm
  5:00pm - 10:00pm

The Details

Cuisine
  • Italian
Need to Know
  • Function Space
  • Good for Groups
  • Great for Dates
Serving
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

You love Italian food, obviously, but did you know there’s so much more to it than pizza and pasta? In fact, every region of Italy lays claim to its own distinct cuisine, and West End’s new Pilloni is here to shine a light on one of them, dedicating itself entirely to Sardinian fare. 

Owners Andrea Contin and Valentina Vigni, who you might know from another West End Italian spot, La Lupa, were keen to create a dining experience based on Contin’s childhood growing up in Sardinia, a large island off the coast of Italy. The result is Pilloni, a stunning, homely venue with interiors inspired by the couple’s travels through Sardinia and a menu of wood-fired eats. 

Featuring four distinct areas—a fresco bar,  a dining room with views of the kitchen’s firepit, a curtained balcony and a private dining area and cellar—the venue has been designed to feel like a warm and homely bed and breakfast, Italian turisma-style, with a distinct 50s vibe. Framed Sardinian prints line the walls, plump cushions rest on red leather banquets and wicker backed stools line a dark wooden bar. Basically, you’ll feel as if you’ve left eclectic West End far behind. 

A huge part of Sardinian cuisine is its farm-to-table aspect, with fresh produce taking pride of place, so Head chef Mimmo Miceli has put together a menu that utilises seasonal  ingredients from local farmers, producers and fishers. Kick things off with snacks and entrees like 48 hour fermented focaccia with cured meats or charred octopus with potato foam, olives and pimiento, then move onto culurgiones (a kind of filled pasta) stuffed with potato, pecorino and mint in tomato sauce or lamb shoulder ragu. 

One of the current signature dishes is a quarter spit roasted suckling pig, but if you’re not organised enough to order ahead, you can also get it as a single main. Sharing options include a slow roasted lamb neck with fregolone and parsnip or the Tasmanian lobster with tomato, red onion, lemon and parsley, which you can pair with sides like fermented carrots, sheep yoghurt and macadamia or a seasonal leaf salad. 

Meanwhile, as you’d expect from a good Italian spot, the wine list is 220 bottles strong, leaning heavily into Sardinian vinos but also spotlighting other Mediterranean regions as well as Australian and French wines, with a focus on small batch, organic and low intervention drops. For the cocktail lovers, you can sip on six cocktails made with Sardinian spirits—think a Sardinian iced tea, a spritz made with a Sardinian aperitif, a negroni and a mirto sour.

Image credit: Supplied