Sazio is Italian for full or satisfied, and this Hastings pasta bar builds everything around that idea, summed up in its own little equation: a full plate, a full glass and a full heart add up to a full life. Set on Heretaunga Street East in central Hastings, it is a neighbourhood spot with a warm interior in caramel, tan and forest green, a large display of dried flowers above the bar and an open kitchen where the cooks work in full view. Guests can take a seat at the pass to watch the kitchen at work, settle in at a table, or head out to the alfresco area, where pets are welcome too.
The pasta is made fresh every day and cooked to order, inspired by the pasta the team’s grandmothers once rolled by hand. Those roots run back to Italy and Argentina, and the kitchen follows the same instinct as home cooks there, working with whatever is good and close at hand. That means seasonal, sustainable produce from Hawke’s Bay and the rest of New Zealand, organic where possible and free range always. Dough is kneaded, rolled and extruded into an ever changing line of shapes, from ribbons of egg pasta made with 00 flour and free range eggs to semolina pasta, and the list is rewritten through the year to follow whatever the region is producing at its best.
The current dinner list shows the style well, though dishes rotate. Starters have included focaccia with olive oil, warm olives with fennel and orange, arancini with chilli jam, crumbed beef meatballs with salsa verde and parmesan, and prawn ceviche with avocado and kumara. Pasta might include spaghetti with prawns, tomato, chilli, garlic and crunchy pangrattato, pumpkin tortellini in roasted garlic cream with almonds, or pappardelle with lamb ragù, with pork belly, kumara and beetroot relish for those wanting a meat course. Sides such as broccoli agrodolce and parmesan roasted carrots with ricotta and walnuts fill out the table, and the Feed Me menu hands the decisions to the kitchen, sending out a run of favourites for everyone to share.
Dessert keeps the Italian thread with lemon tart, tiramisu with hazelnuts and rum, ice cream or sorbet made in house, affogato, and a Don Pedro of whiskey, vanilla ice cream, walnuts and amaretto cookies. The bar shows the same Italian heart. Cocktails run from a Negroni and a Hugo to a limoncello martini and the bar’s own Spritzio, while the wine list leans on Abruzzo, Sicily, Puglia, Piemonte and Tuscany, with Malbec from Mendoza nodding to Argentina and a sparkling rosé from Bridge Pa close to home. Sawmill pilsner pours on tap, the gins are distilled in Hastings, and amaro, grappa or a glass of Sazio limoncello make a fitting close. Children are welcome, with options of their own, and the kitchen will adapt for most allergies and diets.
Address: 215 Heretaunga Street East, Hastings 4122
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