Oh Buoy! A great year for Husky pasta bar
Seaside pasta bar Pasta Buoy on Owen Street Husky celebrated their first year in business just before Christmas, and to say they’ve had an astronomically big first year might be an understatement. They are producing fresh pasta at a rate of knots (yes, pun intended), somewhere in the order of 100kg a day, along with five trays of lasagne and 20kg of gnocchi.
It’s hard to remember what life was like ‘before’ Pasta buoy. But let’s take a little trip down memory lane…
A little over 12 months ago, locals were curious to catch a glimpse of what was happening behind a pair of aged timber-and-iron gates that suddenly appeared between the sunglass shop and the booking counter for ocean-going adventurers, Jervis Bay Wild. A kind of Mediterranean courtyard was materialising behind the mysterious façade.
A Venetian-plastered courtyard and cocktail bar emerged on the main street of Huskisson. Photo: Ruby Lane
The shopfront on the other side of JB Wild was also undergoing a transformation. Once upon a time it was an independent butcher shop – remember those? – then a fragrant shop full of organic skin care and home wares (White Earth, which is now in a larger shop a few doors up), and a clunky little ATM.
When the doors – and gates – finally flung open in December 2022, the takeaway pasta bar was an instant hit. Pasta Buoy serves everything takeaway-style – including cocktails from the bar-niche inside the courtyard in specially-made jars. Diners can find a spot in the courtyard or wander across the road to the Husky wharf or Voyager Park for more al fresco dining options. The simple fare and simple service style means diners can get their food in around 10 minutes, which is comparable to a takeaway shop time-wise but the food itself is poles apart.
The brainchild of owners Steve and Jess Cantarakis, Pasta Buoy is truly a slice of the Med right here on Jervis Bay.
JBW sat down with Steve this week to find out where it all started.
Steve says: “We had the idea for a pasta bar concept, making fresh past in the window, for a while. Mum and dad (Maria and Peter) had the restaurant up the street (now Peter & Eva’s) about 18 years ago and I used to work there after school, making pizzas. It was dad who took out the old gas oven and put in the wood fired oven.”
“When mum and dad’s old restaurant became available, we had a good look. We wanted to do Flame Pizza (our North Nowra restaurant) but it was going to be too hard. We love fresh pasta, I’ve always been intrigued by it – you can’t beat it for a quick hearty meal and it’s completely different from the dried pasta you get from the supermarket. So we decided to do a pasta bar instead.”
The takeaway shopfront counter displays house made pastas and desserts. Photo: Ruby Lane
There’s a tale of serendipity behind the artful sweeps of Venetian plaster in the courtyard. Steve, who has a background in trades, found a course in the technique in Melbourne so the young family travelled south for a few days.
Steve says: “We planned to go to [Italian diner & pasta bar] Pentolina for dinner but I was so tired from the plastering course we almost didn’t go. They had a huge pasta machine there, and we mentioned that we were looking at something similar but smaller for our pasta bar coming up in Husky. The waiter told us theirs was for sale and the restaurant was closing. It was a monster machine compared to what we were looking at, but we bought it!
“I went back the next day to learn how to use it, and we convinced the head chef, Gabriele Olivieri (who has worked at starred and hatted restaurants internationally) and one of his apprentices to come up to Husky too.”
The team of chefs at Pasta Buoy have been working day and night to meet demand. Photo: Ruby Lane
Once the head chef and pasta machine were in place on Owen Street, the team had four days to prep for their opening. “We sold out what we thought would be a week’s food in our first day. We were all so surprised,” says Steve.
And it keeps growing. Just before the summer holidays, the team of Steve and his friend, builder Josh Morgan who completed the entire fit-out together, expanded the courtyard back into what used to be a veggie garden, effectively tripling the seating area. Jess gave them a deadline – she wanted the new extension ready to host a baby shower (for their second daughter who was born a few weeks ago).
The new space is a cross between a piazza and a laneway, the perfect vibe for casual al fresco dining.
The cocktail bar serves drinks to have in or takeaway in specially branded jars. Photo: Ruby Lane
The kitchen is supplying pasta wholesale to other local restaurants including Bud’s Tavern and 5 Little Pigs, and they are now looking at an even bigger pasta machine – from Italy of course – to be installed in a renovated old house behind the shop. Steve credits his landlord, Brendan Aulesbrook as a mentor and great supporter of the business.
“We are expecting new Pasta Buoy branded kitchen ware for home cooks to arrive in our shopfront soon, to go with our budgie smugglers and beach towels,” says Steve.
The team is also working on a few updates to the menu, but we expect the favourites to remain the same – the ragu is the standout sauce, a nine-hour beef cheek recipe that is cooked overnight each night, and the fresh tagliatelle.
Open everyday 11am-10pm, happy hour 3-5pm
https://www.instagram.com/pastabuoy/
60 Owen Street Huskisson
