Noi on Audley Street

Petersham is in Sydney's Inner West, and Noi is at 108 Audley Street, in a room that seats 40 and keeps the light low all night. It is an intimate room, and seven years on the same street have made Noi a local restaurant in the best sense: neighbours through the week, and visitors alongside them.

The cooking is Italian and domestic in origin — nonna's food, updated rather than reinvented. Pasta is made by hand, the produce follows the season, and dishes arrive meant for the middle of the table rather than one person's plate. Menus change with the season. Groups of 8 to 20 share a banquet instead of ordering à la carte.

The room does double duty. Most of the time it is simply the restaurant, tables booked by the night; when a party takes it over, the whole place goes to one booking. The events team works out the food and the timing beforehand, and there is a function package covering what the room can do. Exclusive hire suits a birthday or a long dinner among friends.

The kitchen serves seven nights and three lunches a week. Tables are booked online or by phone; anything larger than 20 goes through the events team, which will also arrange the room in full. Noi is a small Italian restaurant that knows its street, and cooks accordingly.