Want comfort? Eat pasta. Here are five of Melbourne’s best.
“Chef David Lakhi honed his trade at an Italian restaurant ruled by a strict octogenarian matriarch, and the pleasing results can be seen at his own bustling bistro.”
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“3AW: The place Emilia reviewed which rivals Melbourne’s top Italian restaurants!”
Move aside a linen, privacy curtain as you enter the moody, textured walls of Little Black Pig & Sons in Heidelberg.
Suburban strip shops meet Italian fine dining. When you’re in the newly re-done, perfectly laid back but sophisticated walls at Little Black Pig & Sons you can hardly imagine you’re actually below Warrigal Shopping Centre and diagonal from a 7-Eleven.
The charming Italian ristorante has undergone a transformation from its humble beginnings as a lawnmower repair shop and Italian deli.
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“Top Melbourne chefs share their favourite high-end restaurants”
by Kara Monssen
Cru Wine Bar head chef Ryan Short
“This produce-driven, Italian-style cucina is where I take my family for a good meal out. I love this style as it reminds me of a Gippsland restaurant I trained at when I started my career. Most things are made in-house and you can tell with the flavour. I love the seasonal mushrooms on polenta with garlic and capers or a slow-cooked pork belly with cimi di rapa, borlotti beans and salsa verde.”
Read More“When I want to be a little fancy…” | Herald Sun, Chef's Guide to Heidelberg by Ryan Short
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“Little Black Pig & Sons is the sort of Italian local that will please everyone’s inner nonna”
by Larissa Dubecki
“I’ve come to the conclusion, following extensive field work involving pasta, burrata and nebbiolo, that being Italian is a state of mind. Cultural appropriation be damned: inside us all there’s a headscarf-clad nonna with firm opinions about the true recipe for spaghetti bolognese and a final word on the parmesan with seafood debate.
“David Lakhi can go one better by laying claim to a nonna who wasn’t a figment of his imagination. The Indian-born chef apprenticed and worked for more than a decade with an Italian, restaurant-owning family whose octogenarian matriarch ruled the kitchen. And at Little Black Pig & Sons, his bistro of the past six years, he’s putting the lessons into action.”
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Little Black Pig & Sons isn’t your average dinner and a show. Co-owner and chef David Lakhi splits his time between the kitchen and the front of house, dishing out equal amounts of theatre across the two. You’ll often find him explaining each dish to customers, whether it’s the origins of different ingredients or how you might recreate it at home.
Read More“14 ways to celebrate Valentine's Day in Melbourne | Chef's choice in the suburbs”
By Annabel Smith
‘Celebrate early on Saturday evening or join all the other couples on Monday night with a five-course tasting menu ($99 per person) at Little Black Pig & Sons. For those who don't like to leave it all to the chef, there are two options to choose from per course; or divide and conquer so you can try a bit of everything – especially when faced with a decision between flourless chocolate cake and Nonna's tiramisu.’
Read More“Everything you need to know about 'nduja”
By Richard Cornish
‘David Lakhi from Little Black Pig and Sons in Heidelberg whips 'nduja with olive oil and serves this with whipped buffalo ricotta and piadina. The Indian-born chef was trained by an 86-year-old Italian nonna, who taught him to make a sauce of cuttlefish, cacciatore salami and 'nduja slow-cooked with tomato paste and chicken stock and served with paccheri pasta and sharp mustard greens.’
Read MoreThank you, Gemima Cody, for this mention of our duck cappelletti in The Age Good Food, ‘Where to head when dining returns’!
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Are there any barriers to who can cook what cuisine? David Lakhi doesn't think so. He's the Indian-born chef of Heidelberg, Melbourne restaurant Little Black Pig & Sons and he stands behind the heart, soul and flavour of his Italian menu. David has been embraced by the community - they supported each other through lockdown after lockdown - but he's also been subject to gross and undermining racism.
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“Todd Woodbridge visits Little Black Pig & Sons and Heide Museum of Modern Art”
Read MoreLittle Black Pig & Sons is partnering with The Salt Foundation to bring a Soup Kitchen to West Heidelberg.
The Salt Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that works closely with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to bring hearty, healthy meals to temporary visa holders, refugees, marginalised & homeless, and any members of our community that need food support.
"Little Black Pig & Salt" will be distributing meals at Salt Community House in West Heidelberg at approximately 6.00pm this Friday 24th July. This venture will continue each Friday night of the lockdown, and potentially expand to Saturday nights as well.
If you are able to offer support towards this charitable cause, please contact us.
“Party of five: Five ways to make the most of seeing your friends again, Melbourne”
By Gemima Cody
“Can't go out? This Heidelberg Italian figures they can get in. Get a couple of friends round, and a chef (plus optional waiter) will come around to set up your house with crockery and flowers and cook and serve a menu of yellowfin tuna tartlets, oysters, lobster ravioli and corned duck breast. They can match with wines, dig into their premium cellar and will clean everything before they go. Full service, inside your house.”
Read More“Our pick of Melbourne's produce boxes”
By Gemima Cody
“This is a serious Italian party pack. You can get slow-roasted lamb shoulder, porchetta, a family-size Wonder Pies pie, fruit and vegetables, fresh pasta and multiple sauces, salads and a six-pack of wines. Free delivery within 15km of the Heidelberg restaurant.”
Read MoreHerald Sun, Chef's Guide to Heidelberg by Matthew Hammond
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"Australia’s Best Suburban Restaurants"
QANTAS Travel Insider magazine
February 2018 issue
The all-Italian-produce party known as cucina rustica makes its home in Heidelberg, in Melbourne’s north-east, thanks to Little Black Pig & Sons’ menu that changes weekly, often daily, in the spirit of working with the seasons. From the antipasto of fried zucchini flowers stuffed with herbs and cheeses to the primi of pitch-perfect pasta (go for the ravioli fatti a mano, luscious with burnt butter), it’s a kitchen simpatico with the brief. The secondi (rolled pork belly with toffee-crisp crackling is the must-order) and dolci (hello tiramisu) are no slouches either. The shopfront on Heidelberg’s main drag enforces the message that this place is a step up for the ’hood, while inside it’s a slick vision of contemporary dining with a high-low mix of exposed brick walls and linen-clad tables.
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