Santini Bar & Grill – One Year On

QT Perth has turned one and continues to thrive.

After one year of trade in the Perth CBD, QT Perth and signature restaurant, Santini Bar & Grill have gone from strength to strength.

In 2018, the Mediterranean-inspired restaurant took out the title of ‘Best New Restaurant’ in the WA Good Food Guide, securing itself firmly in the Perth foodie scene. Fast forward 12 months, and Santini Bar & Grill has nabbed the title of ‘Restaurant of the Year’ for the 2019 WA Good Food Guide awards along with being included in The Australian’s ‘Hottest Restaurants’ list. This success can be put down to the power combination of the renowned Robert Marchetti, Santini’s Creative Food Director and successful Head Chef, Nic Wood.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ROBERT MARCHETTI
His family hails from the seaside town of San Benedetto del Tronto in Italy and he grew up with food on his mind.

He proclaims that with thinking about Santini opening in the seaside city of Perth he immediately thought of the idea of “food of the sun”. Marchetti set out to offer the “kind of food that makes you feel good, makes you still fit in your bikini but also, the produce is gleaming with freshness. You’re in Capri or Santorini and you’re sitting there looking at the blue water and thinking this is the kind of food that I want to be eating for the rest of my life. Why don’t I ever cook this at home…?”.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT NIC WOOD
Having spent most of his life in WA, Nic Wood brings his passion for local seasonal produce to QT Perth as Executive Chef.

After assisting with multiple QT restaurant openings around Australia, ever the QT loyalist, Wood returned to his home town to take up the Executive Chef role at QT Perth. Having worked with Robert Marchetti in his previous roles, the two share a mutual appreciation for the paddock to plate philosophy, and have formed a great union delivering an expansive menu at the hotels signature Restaurant Santini Grill, featuring a Mediterranean flair menu.

Wood credits Marchetti for teaching him more in five years than any other chef in his career, and has noted the opportunity to return to Perth to work together to create a concept for Santini Bar & Grill, was an easy decision.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SANTINI BAR & GRILL
Inspired by the sun and always embracing the seasons, Santini Bar & Grill in Perth celebrates classic Italian dining, pairing it back with everything that is loved about WA.
The restaurant has a wood-fired grill and oven that allows for smoky characteristics to be instilled into the food. The taste is distinctly Italian influenced as Marchetti stays true to his roots and explores his heritage through cuisine.

The restaurant only uses the best of the best when it comes to produce; from seafood like swimmer crab, yellowfin tuna and uni to vegetables like artichokes, plus luscious lamb and fresh burrata. Highlighting the current seasonal ingredients, the menu constantly changes to reflect the market. The restaurants signature dish, the Bistecca alla Fiorentina, celebrates the amazing meat that Australia has to offer.
Robert Marchetti describes Santini Bar & Grill as “gleaming food of the sun, feel-good, restrained Italian produce seen in its best possible light.”

words by emily carstairs & meg david