“Italian ideas, Irish produce”

Reviewing Sprezzatura, located just off Camden Street in Dublin 8 

Sprezzatura is an Italian restaurant that has made its home at 5/6 Camden Market in Dublin 8.

“I would say Italian ideas and Irish produce would be the most important description,” says its communications manager, Eoin O’Reilly. Sprezzatura highlights the Irish farmers and producers who supply the majority of their ingredients which they use to enhance their freshly made pasta.

The pasta, O’Reilly says, is made by a chef at four in the morning, every morning – that’s dedication and I hope they pay him well.  

Visiting the restaurant increased my excitement to fully immerse myself in the cool environment that I’ve seen recently on viral TikTok videos. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t reserve a table in time, and they were only able to offer us a table outside. Fortunately, the Irish weather has taken a turn for the good the last few days. The waiters were very attentive regardless of having a full house, and took our orders. For starters I ordered the ‘Toonsbridge Mozzarella’, which was €6.95 and described as a “creamy mozzarella from Co Cork served with Achill Island sea salt and Wicklow rapeseed oil”.

I wasn’t too fond of it by itself so I waited for my pasta to arrive to eat it alongside it. For the main course I settled on a traditional ‘Tyres, Tomato & Littlecress Basil’ which was €7.95 described as “radiatori shaped pasta served in a rich tomato & Littlecress Micro Basil Sauce”. 

The person I was with ordered the ‘Tyres, Sun-dried Tomato Pesto & Irish Hazelnuts’, which was €9.95 and described as a “radiatori shaped pasta served in a sun-dried tomato pesto and topped with crunchy Irish hazelnuts”. 

After eating a couple of bites of my pasta and trying my friends too, I thought my pasta was much fresher and more flavoursome than the pesto dish, however, I do feel it was hard to go wrong with a classic tomato & basil dish. What made the dish stand out to me was the spicy aftertaste that was left on your tongue, it was delicious and made the dish more unique. 

It was hard not to enjoy the atmosphere even if it did feel like we were on the outside looking in at all the fun, you were still immersed in the environment once you got your food. 

The service was extremely quick: I had been once before and the service has greatly improved. For the two pasta dishes and a starter, it totalled less than €25, so no wonder this restaurant has increased in popularity among students, which O’Reilly has noticed these past few months. If you are looking for an affordable Italian dinner to enjoy with some good company and support Irish producers, Sprezzatura is the perfect pick for you.