Richmond’s Spaghetti Club opens with family recipe book, Southern Italian comfort

At the center of that identity was a faded orange notebook that came from Gugliandolo’s grandfather, who worked at Bar Irrera in Messina and filled it over decades in Sicilian pastry kitchens. The recipes tied to that book included lasagna, involtini and pasta alla Norma, setting the tone for a room that aimed to feel like an old family table brought into Richmond rather than a theme restaurant dressed up in Italian clichés.

Head chef Michael Fleming, whose background included Totti’s Bondi, Botanical Hotel and Press Food and Wine Adelaide, led a menu that moved well beyond the name on the door. House-made spaghetti vongole came with bottarga and lemon, squid ink spaghetti joined pasta alla Norma, and Nonno’s meatballs sat alongside cacio e pepe arancini, baked rigatoni alla vodka and pumpkin gnocchi. The kitchen also leaned hard into the chargrill, with beef braciole skewers, pesce spada, spatchcock, pork chop and lamb shoulder coming off the fire.

The drinks list matched that mood. Beverage manager Aaron Wall put together spritzes, negronis, Italian lagers, local wines and a Sicilian Sour, while aperitivo hour ran Saturdays and Sundays from 3pm to 5pm. Spaghetti Club’s hours were Monday and Tuesday from 5pm to 11pm, and Wednesday to Sunday from 12pm to 11pm, giving it a lunch-to-late-night rhythm that made room for both a quick plate and a longer, social sit-down.