“Cibo con amore” or “food with love” is the mantra at Babbo, a sophisticated and funky pizzetta, piadina and wine bar that caters to dainty public servants and office workers near the corner of Lonsdale and Spring. Located in Madame Brussels lane, it is the shining light amongst a glut of $5-coffee-and-muffin-joints which are unfortunately the standard in the area.

Opening only a few months ago, this family run affair is both passionate and authentic. Hailing from Torrevecchia in Italy, there isn’t a twee stereotype in sight – no checked tablecloths or bottles of chianti hanging from the ceiling, or stodgy cheese laden Italian fare. But what makes it special is that both the food and the service is done with love. And though I hate to fawn, I am absolutely smitten by it.

The protagonists at this culinary helm are Remo (as in the saint), a decidedly hunky Italian specimen with a look and an accent that can drop a girl at 20 paces (gee…lucky I am SO enamoured by Dan!). He has a firm hospitality pedigree – operating cafes both here and in Italy, where he lived for 15 years. Dino, his godfather (…not to be confused with THE godfather), is a cheeky chap and one who is not adverse to a gossip and a bit of shtick. He started his trade in Queensland running a pizza joint with Remo’s father, and has since run cafe’s in Melbourne, taking a side step into ladies hairdressing (hence his excellent communication skills). Ines, Dino’s wife, is the most gorgeous, welcoming lady, with the heart, passion and cooking skills of a good Italian mama (…although she is far from looking like one!). There are others – sisters helping out in the kitchen and front of house, and a Sicilian uncle who is the pastrychef, a man who takes sole responsibility for my daily afternoon jaunt to the cake display.

But lets get onto the food. Mmm…rigatoni con ragu. Doesn’t this photo make you want to just dive in and eat – fork in one hand and hunk of bread in the other? Only recently has pasta made an appearance on the menu (thank god…those boxes of De Cecco pasta sitting on the counter have been taunting me for weeks!), and is served on Thursday and Friday. Enis takes responsibility for this bowl of goodness – firm aldente rigatoni, a tomato and beef ragu that has been cooked as all good sauces should be cooked – low and slooooow. And I don’t even know where to begin with the meat – it was tender and just fell to bits under my fork. Oh yeah. My Nonna would be happy with this.

I just so love the details – for example, your pasta comes served with a plate of crusty white bread which is perfect for wiping clean your plate afterwards. There is a grater for your parmesan, and a little dish of fresh chopped deseeded chilli that has been mixed with cracked black pepper. It is these little extras that I find so delightful. The little demi carafe of vino didn’t go astray either, making my Friday afternoon in the office a rather chirpy and relaxed affair.

For lunch one may also go the way of the pizza, which is made onsite daily, base and all. As you can see here, we are not talking your cheap meat lovers or Papa Gino’s special. This is gooood – toppings are fresh and simple – broccolini with prosciutto and tallegio, roasted vegetable, or even a simple margarita. A couple of choices a day keep things interesting.

If you want to go simple, then the foccaccia caprese can’t be beat (…I must confess to having this one quite regularly). Fior de latte mozzarella, tomato and basil. That’s it. The holy trinity of colours, red, white and green, toasted together in an olive oil and oregano foccaccia bread.

Other lunchtime offerings include sour dough piadina, toasted and served hot on a wood bread board (ahh…details). Filling ingredients include salame (sic), rocket, tuna, egg, asparagus, provolone, asiago, prosciutto, parma, roasted peppers etc.

Breakfast too is excellent. Dench breads – fruit and sourdough, are a good way to wake up in the morning, as are the breakfast panino’s with spinach, googy fried egg and provolone, or pancetta and googy egg. There is Misura Italian Cornflakes, Byron Bay Muesli, breakfast piadina with nutella and coconut (oh yeah). They also have a few specials, for instance the zabaglione with pavesini biscuits pictured above – a delicious silky marsala infused egg cream that is way too wicked to eat for breakfast. This evoked some very fond childhood memories, standing on a chair whisking egg yolks (I was about four or five years old) with my Nonna, pleading with her to put in another “cucchiaio di zucchero” (spoon of sugar). Ahh….I just love when food does this.

Oh…this is the “oops…was so hungry to take a photo before I ate it” warm breakfast panino with spinach, egg and cheese.

As I said earlier, the cake display is what calls to me each afternoon. It changes on a daily basis, keeping my pastry-inclined ways interested and enthused. The star of the show is the bombolone – yeasty Italian doughnuts pumped full of custard, raspberry or apricot jam. On certain days you can also get a very naughty nutella and custard combination. Other items include “probably the best lemon and blood orange tartlets”, white chocolate tarts, an amazing gluten free chocolate cake, plum and almond friands – well, the list goes on. All of the cakes are nicely sized (ie not supersized), so you don’t feel so bad eating them. Well, that is what I like to tell myself anyway.

The biscuits too are just amazing. Above is the napolitani – a pure work of pastrymaking art – a chocolatey nutty interior wrapped by sweet pastry, sprinkled with pistachios and drizzled with jam. Ooh…I just feel faint thinking about them. There are also garibaldi, mandarin amaretti, sour cherry amaretti, shortbread stuffed with figs…yes yes yes!

You know, I just love a place that greets me by name when I walk in, that is interested when they ask “And how are you today?”, and gives me such wonderful food to swoon over. And the romcaffe coffee, sourced directly from Italy, can’t be beat either.

UPDATE April 09: Remo has now flown the coop for +39, leaving Dino and Enis as owners of Babbo (formerly known as Espressino).