You know what they say about the Northern Beaches bubble: once you’re in it, you never want to leave. And now that the crew behind crowd-favourites Chica Bonita (which also recently opened in the CBD and Sunset Sabi have opened another Manly venue, punters have got one less reason to leave the insular peninsula. This time, though, the group’s gone Italian.
“The inspiration for our venues really just comes from the sort of stuff we want to be eating and the sort of places we want to be going to,” says co-owner Luke Miller. “Busta came about because we just really like pasta.”
Busta is an intimate venue bathed in warm light. When you step through the door, you’re greeted like an old friend. The space is modern, with a terrazzo-tiled floor leading to the sleek curved bar in the centre of the room. On the other side of the bar is the open kitchen, making it easy for the floor staff to banter with the people working the pans.
The menu is tight: there are seven antipasti options, three pastas, three mains and three desserts coming out of the kitchen. “A short food menu forces us to change it a lot,” says Miller.
Busta’s head chef is not yet on board – they arrive in the next few weeks (we’ll let you know when the news is announced). When that happens the menu will be finessed, but until then, you’ll find Miller in the kitchen at 6am most mornings hand-rolling pasta. There’s a spaghetti mixed with kale pesto, walnuts, a soft cured yolk and truffle pecorino, and a stracci (torn pasta) that comes with duck ragu, currants and lemon thyme. (There’s usually one gluten-free pasta option on the menu, too.)
Bread is made by Tom Eadie at Berkelo bakery in nearby Brookvale. “He makes really delicious bread, and mills his own flours,” says co-owner Sean Miller (no relation to Luke). “We use one of his single-origin wheat flours for our pastas, and we also feature his focaccia on the menu right now.”
When Winona Wine opened on the same street a few months ago, it was the first bottle shop in Manly and the Northern Beaches to focus on minimal-intervention wines. Busta continues Winona’s organic, natural approach, but there are also a bunch of more traditional Italian varietals in the mix. When summer comes around Busta will introduce an aperitivo hour and possibly brunch on the weekends.
As for the name? “We came up with one but quickly found a million other restaurants were called that already. Then we walked past the shop one day and someone had tagged ‘Busta’ across the windows, and we just knew it was meant to be,” says Sean, laughing.
Busta
Shop 8/2–12 Pittwater Road, Manly
(02) 8966 9917
Hours:
Wed to Fri 5pm–10pm
Sat & Sun 4pm–late