OSTERIA IL COCCIA

An Italian-accented tasting menu licked by open flames sets a high standard for finer dining on the Central Coast

- MATTY HIRSCH

There’s a telling quote in Farm to Flame, the 2018 cookbook by Osteria Il Coccia’s chef and co-owner, Nicola Coccia. "When you cook, you should always be thinking of someone," it says, "otherwise you're just preparing a meal." Il Coccia is far more than a humble osteria interested in just preparing meals. It is a 50-seat dégustation restaurant that's also home to one of the few kitchens in the country fuelled exclusively by wood fire. The sort of spot you might find in the inner Sydney backstreets rather than the ground floor of an incongruously modern apartment complex on Ettalong Beach.