When Lorenzo Petrachi set out to open don Fred in Newtown a few years ago, the only thing he was certain of was what he wasn’t going to do.
“Big rent? No way. Chicken? No way,” Petrachi tells Hospitality. “You sort of go, what am I left with?”
The answer was a small restaurant at the City Road end of King St, slightly away from the main strip of Newtown, designed to encourage repeat visits given they don’t get significant foot traffic. Petrachi, who is the former floor manager at vegan trailblazer Gigi Pizzeria, says he felt a responsibility to produce only plant-based food.
“I’m certainly not judging anyone. My family still eat meat, but I feel for me it’s not a choice anymore, it’s a responsibility. This is why I provide only plant-based food.”
Stepping into don Fred, the focus is all about northern Italian street food, which Petrachi says is their point of difference to other Italian venues in Sydney – not the fact they only do vegan food.
“I’m from Tiesta, which is at the very northern eastern in the border with Slovenia and Austria,” he says.
Customers have been known to ask Petrachi where he gets his guanciale from, sometimes even after they have visited multiple times. “And I go: “what are you talking about?”
Petrachi says the trick is to do it well. Their menu still draws on a lot of classics, like the use of tomatoes, olives, fresh vegetables, and pasta. But it comes with surprises, like their homemade olive meatballs with polenta chips.
“Polenta is from the north. The meatballs were first created in the north and then developed all over the world and all over Italy. The schnitzel that I do, or grilled sausage and grilled onion, it’s nearly Austrian and German the way I present it.
“That’s my point of different to the majority of the Italian restaurants in Sydney, and if they’re looking for prosciutto, I don’t have it.”
He thinks people in Sydney are confused about what authentic Italian food tastes like anyway, so it opened the door for them to showcase what it should be.
“The quality of Italian food made in Sydney in the last couple of decades is far from being top notch,” he adds.
For example, some “carbonara” in Sydney has cream, or uses prosciutto instead of guanciale, he says.
“If you present something that is likeable and well presented, in my opinion, people will like it.
“We are here to get people to eat more plant-based food, not just strictly plant-based food. The only power that I have is presenting people with a nice evening, with nice music, and a glass of wine.”
On Sunday, don Fred is hosting a banquet dinner for World Vegan Day. The evening will include their set menu, which he says allows people to really explore what they have to offer.
The dinner is part of wider activations Vegan NSW has put together for the weekend, to coincide with World Vegan Day on Saturday 1 November.
This year, Vegan NSW decided to do smaller pop-up events to try and engage with different pockets of the community, the organisation’s Chairperson Mike McNally says.
The events, which include the likes of brunch on the Northern Beaches, a picnic in Newtown, attending park run, and a nutrition seminar, are targeted to cater to a broad range of people.
“A lot of the positive feedback we’ve had over the years is that people who are vegan, or who are contemplating being vegan, can feel better connected to the community when they can come and participate in these type of things,” says McNally.
Doing it this way means they may also be able to reach people who have a preconceived idea about what veganism may be, says McNally.
“They then get to encounter veganism more directly and see that we’re just regular folks, and it becomes more relatable,” he says.
McNally says they’ve seen engagement with veganism ebb and flow over the years. This year in Sydney, some vegan and vegetarian restaurants have closed, while others have switched from plant-based menus to introducing meat.
“I’m a long-term vegan myself. I think it’s important that we maintain a very steady, steadfast approach to what we do,” says McNally.
“There can be challenges, but particularly in the way that people can be so influenced by social media these days and therefore they might lean to more of the protein fad type dieting, or different trends that emerge.
“But the messaging that we try to give is that when we look at the research from around the world, we can see that quite clearly there are adequate amounts of protein in a vegan diet.”
He thinks some of the closures might just be the result of being a victim of veganism’s own success.
“We saw far more saturation when it comes to veganism in recent years,” he says.
“Basic accessibility improved in supermarkets, non-vegan eateries included vegan items on their menu, and you can just sit at home and order vegan food to your door.
“All of these forces contribute to why we can see a shift. Yes, there are a couple of places that I’ve enjoyed going to in the past that are no longer out there. That’s personally disappointing, but the good news is there are still plenty of options for me here in Sydney that I take advantage of and still enjoy.”
To view the NSW World Vegan Day events visit here.
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