Fourth Village Providore, Mosman

A gourmet market/restaurant combination, this buzzing spot in Mosman is definitely worth setting aside a couple of hours to explore and indulge.

The family-run, European style market provides a wealth of quality goods ranging from fresh organic bread, chutneys and spreads, fresh fruits and vegetables, a wealth of herbs, spices and oils, and even its own special cheese room. Within was a man that described himself as “the cheese expert” in a suitably authoritative tone, and an accent that said “trust me, I know what I’m talking about”.

After purchasing your new tasty goods and planning several recipes in your head, you reach the restaurant section of the establishment and can prepare for a treat. On this occasion we had just missed breakfast and arrived in time for lunch, so I can’t comment much on the morning offerings but I did see some other patrons polishing off various egg and bean based meals that smelled divine.

The menu, which is classic Italian and apparently changes bi-weekly (!) successfully utilised all the fresh and varied in-house produce, but was not necessarily designed with vegans in mind. A variety of wood-fired pizzas were on offer that could be prepared without cheese or meat, but it would involve modification and thus more hassle than someone like me would necessarily prefer – though it is a shame to miss out on the experience.

Zucchini fries or cheese-free garlic pizza bread could do as a starter (with cheesy versions available for vegos). Most general lunch foods contained one or two kinds of meat, including the pastas alas, which was disappointing as I love a good pasta and they smelled all kinds of amazing. I could have asked for no meat, and there was a delicious sounding caprese or platter option that could be served without cheese, or a fried zucchini flower concoction which, in my experience, can be very hit or miss. On this occasion I opted to share just a simple margherita pizza with a side green salad.

I tend to frown upon vegetarian options being a limited choice between a boring garden salad or an average pizza, but since this was an authentic Italian place, ironically it made a lot of sense to stick to both these options, and thankfully both were delicious.

The pizza was a good size to share with another person, and contained a suitable amount of cheese, fresh basil and sauce. So many places, including Italian restaurants, tend to under-herb and under-sauce, relying too much on the appeal of cheese, but honestly if I wanted Dominoes-calibre pizzas I would’ve just ordered in with Netflix. Fourth Village Providore used delicious fresh fior di latte mozzarella as well as bocconcini, providing a nice variety without going overboard, while also staying true to the menu. I’ve visited many places claiming to use fior di latte which was clearly just a garden-variety shredded mozzarella, tsk tsk.

A small surprise, however, was the ‘side salad’, which was actually quite a considerable bowl of mixed salad leaves with a lovely Napoli dressing of olive oil, chilli and I suspect some lemon juice, which created a simple and powerful flavour to complement the pizza while allowing us to enjoy some greens to pretend it makes the pizza okay because hey, salad was involved.

Perhaps a little pricey being in the heart of the north shore, with a guarantee of all fresh organic ingredients, it was still a reasonable cost for a small day trip, and means you can get your weekly shopping done at the same time to boot. Strolling (or rather, rolling) away from the shop, I had to chuckle as we passed the supercilious fountains (plural) trickling just outside, which seemed very classic Mosman. Yet inside, Fourth Village Providore managed to maintain a humble and somewhat rustic market atmosphere to suit all kinds.

While difficult for vegans in some respects, vegetarians have some options without having to ask for modifications. I’m not sure I’d advise this one for someone on a diet though, as while fresh organic ingredients are always a massive plus, the pizzas are too good to pass up. I can’t wait to return for a cheeky brunch in the near future.