Bucci Restaurant & Bar is celebrating seven years in business since it opened its doors on James Street in 2012. The restaurant has began its birthday year with a sell-out lunch featuring highlights of the Puglia region.
Bucci has been regularly frequented and loved by scores of famous faces such as Molly Ringwald, former Powerfinger band members Bernard Fanning and JC, Vince Colosimo, Tony Mundine and The Veronicas to name a few, along with local politicians, television personalities, models, socialites and Brisbane’s discerning diners. Bucci Restaurant & Bar’s Event Manager Sabrina Judge says it is no mean feat to survive in a competitive restaurant scene in Brisbane, let alone thrive serving up one of the most famous cuisines in the world. “We are immensely proud of our longstanding reputation and recall one reviewer once saying we get the ‘style to substance ratio just right’, which epitomises exactly what we try to do so it’s nice to see it recognised,” she said.
Bucci Restaurant & Bar has been led by the talents of co-owner and Executive Chef Shaun Malone since it first opened. Shaun and his wife Tanja Malone were part of the original Bucci restaurant, which operated in Port Douglas from 2009 until the couple moved to Brisbane in 2012 to commence the Brisbane chapter of Bucci. Offering a relaxed, urban and an edgy twist on traditional Italian, Shaun can be seen in Bucci’s buzzing open kitchen turning out faithful renditions of classic Italian dishes that incorporate contemporary touches paired with seasonal freshly sourced local ingredients. Signature dishes such as Arancini, Carpaccio, Burrata, Crab Linguine, Gnocchi made from scratch and Chocolate Nemesis have become menu favourites. In December alone, Bucci served up 1350 individual and lovingly handmade Arancini, their famous Italian rice balls made with white wine risotto paired with a gooey mozzarella centre.
As part of the 7th birthday celebrations, Bucci throughout 2019 is jet-setting its patron palettes to food regions across Italy thanks to its Vacation Series lunches. The 2019 Vacation Series itinerary has already taken in the Veneto region, followed by Calabria, Sicily, Tuscany, Sardegna, Liguria, Piedmont, and Lombardy. Each new Vacation Series menu is launched with a traditional Italian Sunday lunch celebration of food, wine, music and adventure with guests enjoying eight shared dishes and a glass of prosecco. “These Sunday lunches are the perfect way to welcome in each new region in a very Italian Sunday lunch style of family and festivity,” Judge said.
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