Italian, with a twist – Doughcraft in The City is now trading at night as a ristorante and pinseria

When it expanded and opened the doors to its Mary Street location in February, the Doughcraft team – headed up by Simone Presta, Steven Chevalier, Salvatore Compagnone and head pastry chef Alexandre Choux – hinted at an evolutionary period looming on the horizon. Not content merely opening during the day for pastries, paninis and coffee, the group was eager to push their vision for Doughcraft further by continuing to harmonise the French and Italian influences at the business’s core. The next step was relatively simple – by making the most of the inner-city site’s two-level kitchen space, the Doughcraft team could finally broaden its offering and expand trade into the evenings.

“We always had this idea, this concept, of having a fusion of French and Italian, but we never had the location where we were able to express that,” says Simone. “The way [the Mary Street location] is structured allows us to get a full dining experience from sunrise to sunset. The location is made to be utilised all day long – it was such a waste to not do that.”

Earlier this month, Doughcraft Mary Street launched its long-awaited nighttime service, opening its doors in the evenings from Tuesday to Saturday as a ristorante and pinseria. Leaving the site’s character elements (the exposed-brick walls, subway-tiled floors and leather banquettes) untouched, the team reconfigured the venue to now boast a casual lounge space for pre-dinner drinks and stuzzichini (think crispy fried green olives, truffle burrata and bone marrow and anchovy-topped bruschetta) in addition to the main restaurant dining area.

When it came to creating Doughcraft’s after-dark menu, inspiration came easily. It all links back to the name.

“The concept starts with dough, which is just flour and water,” explains Simone. “From dough, you can do infinite types of food, like croissant dough, pasta dough and pizza dough. We want to provide them with a 360-degree European culinary experience.”

Doughcraft’s Roman-born head chef Edoardo Bianchini is overseeing the nighttime menu, drawing influence from his hometown’s heaving food scene to impart his signature take upon the offering, which boasts a number of tantalising twists that look to elevate the restaurant’s fare above the norm (“Rules are made to be broken, you know?” says Simone). The fun starts with appetisers, including speck-stuffed arancino, seared scallops with chickpea and saffron puree, beef tartare crowned with truffle pecorino and a quenelle of mustard gelato (made by close collaborators La Macelleria), and cacio e pere – a sweet and savoury sensation that sees a baked pear coated in pecorino Romano and honey.

From there, Doughcraft’s menu expands to include fresh pasta dishes like crab spaghetti, pumpkin gnocchi, brisket ragu fettuccine and squid-ink ravioli filled with baccalà mantecato and potato. After this, Edoardo’s Roman influences come to the fore with Doughcraft’s selection of pinsa – a form of pizza boasting dough made from semolina, rice, soy and plain flours. This dough is left to ferment for a period of 48 to 72 hours, during which the sugars and yeast are eaten away, creating a lighter dough that is much easier to digest. Due to space restrictions, the pinsa is cooked in Doughcraft’s bread oven (which tops out at a lower temperature point than conventional pizza ovens), yet still emerges perfectly crispy.

“Neapolitan pizza is soft and kind of soggy,” Simone explains. “This type of pizza is the opposite – it’s is light, crunchy and has a rustic feeling.”

Doughcraft’s pinsa comes with a range of toppings, from the Twist (baby octopus, salame, olives, fried capers and parsley) and the Roma Mia (porchetta with romesco sauce and provola) to the Sfizio (cured salmon with rocket, whipped bufala, beetroot and lemon) and the Divina (yellow cherry tomato sauce with friarelli, provola, sun-dried tomatoes and almond flakes). A tight list of four mains offers the likes of beef tagliata, crispy skin fish with orange fennel and black-olive salad, grilled spatchcock with rosemary and lemon, and grilled tiger prawns with lardo, cannellini-bean cream and sweet paprika. For a sweet finish, Doughcraft is serving classic tiramisu (scooped from the bowl), profiteroles filled with rich vanilla ice-cream and a Nutella, strawberry and hazelnut pinsa.

While this iteration of Doughcraft is, by all accounts, the most accurately realised version of the concept to date, the team aren’t quite ready to say it’s finished. That said, with a thriving wholesale business putting Doughcraft’s baked goods in countless cafes across town, the team is wary of stretching itself too thin.

“The plan is always changing, but, obviously, we need to take things step by step,” says Simone. “We started as a bakery and we feel like we mastered that side. And now we’ve moved into the dining area, so we need to grow this side of the business and build it up to the level that we want.” 

There’s still more to come, especially at Mary Street, which has a number of hidden nooks waiting to be utilised. Doughcraft Mary Street to activate its three function spaces in the near future, as well as celebrating the return of its viral gelato-filled croissant – a surefire winner as the hotter months arrive.

Doughcraft is now open for dinner from 5:00 pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Head to the Stumble Guide for more information.