The dining room at Buon Ricordo. Buon Ricordo

A dignified white-jacketed waiter stands in the lobby of Buon Ricordo, waiting to take your coat. “Buona Sera signore.” At that moment a bow-tied barman – it might be veteran Nick Caraturo – glances up from his station as he pours an obscure, probably bitter digestivo, for a 91-year-old lady who has enjoyed the full menu degustazione earlier tonight. Until recently the decorous Gemma Cunningham would usually be on the floor here too, greeting you with smiling recognition, even when it had been quite a while since your last visit.

I sometimes hum a few bars of Napule è, Pino Daniele’s poignant ode to Naples (see the clip at the end of this review) as I push on the heavy blue front door of the restaurant and walk in. That song is a tribute to a great city and to the same spirit that Buon Ricordo’s former owner Armando Percuoco and his family brought to Australia when they migrated here in the ’70s.

Armando wasn’t the first Napoletano to introduce Southern Italian food and dining culture to Sydney, but he was probably its most Vesuvian emissary. He inspired, amused and intimidated a generation of Sydney diners, chefs and waitstaff for over thirty years. In the very early ’80s, when I took a first date to ogle the antipasti table at Pulcinella – the Percuoco family’s pioneering trattoria in Kings Cross – Armando’s mother was in the kitchen and her eldest, mercurial son commanded the floor.

Over the years at Buon Ricordo which he opened in 1987, Armando didn’t change. It’s simply that, as he expected, we all adjusted to his rigorous standards and orchestral directions (“Everybody wants to eat at 7.30pm! WHY? Can someone please tell me?” “Do NOT eat the bruschetta with a knife and fork!”). It made for some interesting industry tales about life in the kitchen at this dusty pink Paddington osteria.

The rich furnishings and fine art here still impart the moody atmosphere of a Visconti film, but in one important respect the times at Buon Ricordo have changed: Armando and Gemma have retired, and chef David Wright is the new owner.

Wright held the position of head chef for seven years and he met his wife Rosalba here in the kitchen, where she was a sous chef. Since his coronation as the new owner, Wright’s been tweaking some dishes according to the seasons and offering one or two new ones. Watch this space. But he’s also keeping the flame burning under the restaurant’s high-demand signatures, including the truffled-egg fettuccine (AUD $38) tossed a tavola, which makes for an indecently good coupling with a very upmarket Lambrusco from Luciano Saetti (AUD $82); and the handsome pan-fried Snapper fillet with lemon, butter, parsley and Sicilian Capers (AUD $49.50), a fish and a dish that requires no further embellishment.

Buon Ricordo’s zuppa di pesce. Buon Ricordo

Fetch a snorkel to enjoy the deeply oceanic zuppa di pesce (scampi, octopus, bass groper, vongole, calamari and mussels) (AUD $51.50); or hew to the traditional Milly Hill lamb shoulder (AUD $49.50), a lovely gelatinous cut that tastes sturdily but sweetly of itself, braised in almond milk, and given a welcoming jolt of acidity by green olives, orange zest and saffron.

For me Buon Ricordo is mostly about small, memorable moments: a perfect salmonata (thinly sliced ocean trout, bottarga, lemon, garlic, tarragon) (AUD $31.50) paired with a glass of finely-beaded Berlucchi Franciacorta rosé (AUD $24) ; two rich rissole-shaped fagottini made in-house (small pig trotter and veal sausages – AUD $34); and of course the signature baked figs wrapped in prosciutto and dressed in fruity/salty gorgonzola cream sauce (AUD $32.50) . I’ve always preferred the figs at the end of the meal, as a savoury dessert, but if you crave sweet, there’s a very fragrant, very moist crostata d’arance with candied citrus and vanilla ice cream (AUD $23).

The wine list is properly weighty in local and Italian masterpieces (Grange, Sassicaia, Gaja etc.), however, if you’re like me and inclined by temperament and bank balance to something less luxurious, but equally soulful, allow sommelier Daniel Marcella, as Virgil to your Dante, guide you to a few gems in the AUD $75-$100 range. Look for the whole page of Lambrusco, or for the toned and succulent 2010 San Francesco Duca Dell ’Argillone Riserva, made from the Calabrian grape variety Gaglioppo.

I look forward to seeing chef David Wright burnish his crown over the years ahead. Buon Ricordo is no cheap trattoria, but in a town where the comfort and pleasure of the diner is not always a visible priority, at least you can see where your money’s being spent, in the quality, service and old-school style here.

And to the pazzi who don’t get that equation, I can hear an unforgettable voice from the past shouting, “Nothing pleases some people anymore… WHY???”

Rating: 22.5/30

• How good was the food? 8/10
• How good was the wine list? 4/5
• What was the service like? 4/5
• Did the atmosphere work? 3.5/5
• Is there an X Factor about this place? 3/5

Buon Ricordo

• Address: 108 Boundary St, Paddington NSW 2021
• Phone: +61 2 9360 6729
• Email: buonricordo@buonricordo.com.au
• Website: buonricordo.com.au
• Open: Lunch 12pm – 3pm; Thursday, Friday & Saturday; Dinner from 6pm Tuesday to Saturday. Licensed.
• Price: Entrees – AUD $12- $15; primi piatti AUD $31- $34; pasta AUD $31.50 – $38; secondi – AUD $47.50 -$ 64; desserts – AUD $23; Six course menu degustation AND $150 Matched wine degustation AUD $85 100ml per serve.