I drove to Sorrento on a sunny autumn day just as owners Nika, Stefano and Valentino were moving things from their original venue, Bardo a few doors down to their recently opened Sardo. I immediately felt like one of the family as Nika made me espresso and I sat down to chat with her and Valentino. Sardo is the nickname given to people from Sardinia, the same way we might call an Australian an Aussie. Valentino Melas is originally from Sardinia and grew up cooking with his grandmother and mother. The food he and Nika Perc cook is inspired by the dishes of his home country: seafood, slow-cooked meat and housemade pasta. For Nika, Stefano and Valentino, being part of the Sorrento community is important and they offer pasta nights, cooking classes and BYO no corkage nights. Over summer, the laneway leading to the restaurant from the main street and the outside area are festooned with fairy lights so that you could almost think you were in a piazza dining al fresco in Italy. The team, themselves, all go back to Italy for two months over our Australian winter when the restaurant is closed and immerse themselves in Sardinian food, family and life so they can bring that vibe back to us in September.
Conversation with a chef: How long has Sardo been open?
Valentino: We opened in September. Before that we had Bardo for three, four years.
Nika: We both work in the kitchen. We started to work in the kitchen in Melbourne when we used to have restaurant in Melbourne.
What was that restaurant?
Nika: It was more pizza and pasta. It was called Pomodoro Sardo back then. It was still cool to give these strange names. Pomodoro means Italian tomato. We worked in the kitchen together there. And then we found this opportunity to open a restaurant here in 2018.
Great. And you live down here now too?
Nika: Yes.
How beautiful.
Nika: It is. Where are you from?
I live in Port Melbourne.
Nika: Ah. Port Melbourne is nice as well. Close to the sea as well. Well, you get this vibe a bit. You get a breeze coming in. It's better than the city. You don't realize until you're away from that. So now looking back, cities are very chaotic, very hectic, very nonstop.
That's right. That can affect the way you see the world, because it makes you feel quite stressed and so on.
Nika: Yes, it does. It's nonstop. You need to be open lunch and dinner and work 365 days a year. Yeah. But we are a family business and Valentino is from Italy as well. So coming here, it gave us opportunity to close for two months every year during the winter season.
Valentino: July and August.
Nika: I don't think you are able to do that in the city. I think you'd be forgotten. But here it is different, you have one main road and it's very seasonal. Everybody goes back to their families when we close in June and July, winter time here. It's really pretty quiet.
I started to cook with my grandmother and my mum at home, making fresh pasta, Sunday dishes. I started to learn from that. Then I went to hospitality school, and then started to work in the restaurant. It was a good experience. ~ Valentino Melas, Sardo Sorrento
I just was thinking about the name Sorrento too, which is Italian. Exactly. Did that have anything to do with your choice? Or was just coincidental?
Valentino: Sorrento is a place in Italy close to Naples. Similar to here on the coast.
Where are you both from?
Nika: Valentino is from Sardinia. My husband, Stefano, is from Sardinia as well. And I'm from Slovenia. Close to the Italian border and Croatian border. I live 10 minutes from Italy and 10 minutes from Croatia, driving.
Did you train as a chef there or here?
Nika: I was trained by Stefano. He was a chef in Melbourne. And then he's always out and about. So the kitchen is not the place for him anymore. He likes to go out and explore new things. But in the kitchen, you need to be constant and you need to commit and you need to be there. Which is not the place for Stefano. Then Valentino came in, so it was me and him.
And did you train in Italy, Valentino?
Valentino: I learned in Italy. I've been working in the kitchen for 22 years. All my life. I was 17. Now Im 40.
Is your family a hospitality family?
Valentino: No. But I started to cook with my grandmother and my mum at home, making fresh pasta, Sunday dishes. I started to learn from that. Then I went to hospitality school, and then started to work in the restaurant. It was a good experience.
And what brought you to Melbourne?
Valentino: I arrived in Australia in 2015. I was in Perth for two years. But I didnt like it and moved to Melbourne. I met Stefano and Nika in the city. And then we started the progress.
Nika: Yes. The progress here, the experience here. You need to get used to it. It's different to the city. You have a community here.
Valentino: It's much better here.
Nika: It's better here. It took us time to get used to, because the city is always in and out, in and out. Working here, it's more calm. You need to get used to that. It was not an easy transition, but it was all worth it.
I guess in a small town like Sorrento, you'd need to be winning over regulars, because you want people to keep coming back, don't you? Because it's a smaller pool. How do you do that?
Nika: Well, we have good staff. You can't survive without that. And then we have weekly specials and we do cooking classes, pasta nights. BYO no corkage fee on Thursdays. The locals are getting involved. We are doing fundraising every year for Portsea camp. We are sponsors of the Sharks football club here in Sorrento. So you try to get involved. Stefano is part of the Rotary program, so, he cooks sausages and we try to get involved as much as possible.
What does Sardo mean?
Valentino: Sardo is what we call someone from Sardinia. I'm Sardo.
Nika: Like you could call a restaurant, Aussie. I think we used that one because in Melbourne, was Pomodoro Sardo then Pomodoro was a bit difficult to understand.
And Sardo is open evenings? It's such a beautiful fit out. I just love all these beautiful colours.
Nika: And during summertime and the holiday days, there is a laneway as well. We put tables there. Heaters as well. It's very romantic. And we have outside of course. Outside is a big hit in summer, you get this Italian vibe with this Italian atmosphere.
With those lights. It must be quite magical out there in the evening. It's a big venue. How many does it seat?
Nika: 60 to 70 inside. 70 to 80 outside. We do functions and events and we are focussing on Sardinian food.
So what is that?
Valentino: For example, we have Spaghetti Vongole Bottarga is salted, dried and pressed mullet. We grate a bit on top with the vongole. The combination is amazing. Then we have Fregola, which is like a small pasta like couscous but a bit bigger. We do a risotto, seafood with lobster stock, calamari vongole and lobster.
Wow, that sounds delicious.
Nika: We are trying to focus here on homemade pasta and seafood dishes as well.
In terms of produce and suppliers and so on, I guess like all the seafood obviously is from here, but are you using Italian products or do you tend to use local products or how does it work?
Valentino: Both. Italian products I think are much better. But we also use products from here. The secret is in the combination.
Sardinia must have lots of seafood and that's what's reflected in the menu here. What are some other features of Sardinian food?
Valentino: Sausage ragu. This is traditional from South Sardinia with saffron, fennel, pork sausage and fresh tomato and a bit white wine. And the spice as well. But not too much.
Nika: We add chili and fennel. That is very, very traditional in Sardinia. We also have, which is very common from Sardinia, baby goat as well, we are doing baby goat pasta and lamb on the menu, but of course, in terms of local products, of course we are using fish. It's delicious and in summertime we sell a lot of lobster. Lobster is a big hit in summertime. Then of course we go back every year back to Sardinia. All together, all staff, the key figures.
Do things change in Sardinia? This is a naive question, but I feel like a lot of Italian cuisine is very traditional, but we have trends here. Do things change in Sardinia, or do they stay the same?
Nika: I think they stay the same. They continue just with tradition. It's just inside your bloodstream, you know it's very difficult to change certain things in a very traditional country. You're just rolling with that. The only thing that changes in Sardinia, I think over the years, is that it's getting harder and harder to get hospitality staff. But I think that's worldwide.
And when you go back, obviously you're visiting family and so on as well and soaking up the atmosphere, but are you looking for particular things?
Absolutely. New products, new ideas that we can get. Even though it's traditional country, we try a hundred million different restaurants and we try to get as much information as we can to put them on the menu. Before we put things on the menu, we always do specials to hear the feedback. Certain things are maybe not for the Australian market.
Valentino: It's important to see new dishes and have new ideas, different ways of doing things.
Nika: Exactly, yes. Maybe we can include that. We can add a bit of fennel there. We are using this extra virgin oil, this fish, because you don't get the same fish type in Italy as you do in Sardinia. In Australia, we need to compromise.
How big is Sardinia?
Nika: 1.5 to 1.6 million people.
Valentino: It's a big island. There are small towns and different parts have different kinds of food.
When are on holiday and we have new ideas, and we see new different worlds, and we’re not just here in Sorrento, our minds suddenly explode and we are having these new ideas and we’re full of information and trying to find the products, combine them, cook them, and create this beautiful food.~ Nika Perc, Sardo Sorrento
And what about wine? Is there Sardinian wine?
Valentino: Yes. We have Vermentino and Carignano.
Nika: Every Sardinian will say they have the best wine.
It's interesting because I actually only started to drink wine when I went to France when I was 22. So I discovered wine in France and it was a big part of life in France. But now I'm reading all these news reports about how they're having to throw away lots of wine because people just aren't drinking as much. Is that the same in Italy? Are people still drinking?
Nika: Yes. Nothing has changed. Sometimes you need to believe your own eyes. But what do you mean? French people have started to drink less?
I was even talking to some people yesterday who were the saying that here there's a bit of a shift in people's drinking habits here and the younger generations aren't drinking as much.
Nika: We were open here during the summer and our experience was that nothing had changed. And if you go out anywhere in the city, you wouldn't think anything's changed.
That's right. I can see the Campari and Aperol. Do you do cocktails here as well?
Absolutely. We do two for one as well on Friday night. Frozen espresso cream. Frozen margarita. Friday after a long week. But we are really proud of pasta day that we are doing on Wednesday, homemade pasta. We have a special menu for that. It's all homemade by me and
Do you use Italian flour?
Nika: Yes. Semolina and Tipo 00.
Right. When people come in here to dine, what's the ideal experience?
Nika: Start with antipasto, carpaccio, osso bucco arancini.
Valentino: The marinated garfish is good.
Nika: You can't go wrong with those. In terms of pasta dishes, the ravioli lobster is a big hit. And the fregola seafood, which is similar to coucous, but it's still traditional.
Valentino: In terms of meat, baby goat pasta; it is slow cooked all night for 12 hours. The next day it becomes like butter, very creamy.
Nika: In Sardinia they tend to have big important events where they cook baby goats for 600 people. Goat and lamb and suckling pig.
What do you have for dessert?
Valentino: Lava cake. It's like fondant. Panna cotta is good. And different ice creams.
And are you cooking anything that you used to cook with your grandmother?
Valentino: Ravioli filled with burrata cheese, a bit of ricotta and lemon. The other one was the dolce, sweet ravioli. And the brisket with burnt butter. We slow cook the brisket overnight, then blend it, mix it with a bit of ricotta and serve with pappardelle or linguine. Every week we change the specials.
I'm always impressed with chefs that you can hold all those flavour profiles and all of the things that work in your head. But do you write things down or how do you keep track of your specials and things you have tried?
Nika: We do have a book of recipes and specials. Everything is safe in a book that we have in the kitchen. We get ideas.
Valentino: Plus we need to look at the products we have.
Nika: Now we are closing down slowly before we go away. We are checking the products that we have and we are trying to create something exciting. But when are on holiday and we have new ideas, and we see new different worlds, and you're not just here in Sorrento, your mind suddenly explodes and you are having these new ideas and you're full of information and trying to find the products, combine them, cook them, and create this beautiful food.
So, would you say your main inspiration then is your holidays?
Nika: Yes. It is a working holiday.
Valentino: But almost every day we are going to rest as well.
Nika: Yes. But you are always in your mind, you know, it's not like you are that you are a hundred percent relaxed. It's always like, ah, this is new dish. Let's make this. Let's try to figure it out. Can we get that product for in Australia? Do you think it's good? Would they like it? Should we adjust it?
You're closing in a month. When will you reopen?
Nika: September. Everything is closed here over winter. They tend to go skiing. Its difficult to create a vibe here.
Oh, that's perfect for you, isn't it?
Valentino: Yes, we all take two months off and we are happy chefs.
Nika: We are the big brains, Valentino and me.
Sardo Sorrento, 20 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento (down the lane)