Pasta Lovers Brings Swiss-Trained Chef's Handmade Pasta to Currumbin

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Pasta Lovers Brings Swiss-Trained Chef's Handmade Pasta to Currumbin

Pasta Lovers is dishing up authentic Italian comfort food in Currumbin, and it is about to become your new favourite dinner date spot.

If you have ever fantasised about sharing a plate of pasta Lady and the Tramp-style, this charming new evening pop-up in Currumbin is calling your name — and your plus-one.

When the sun goes down, beloved local haunt Home Cafe transforms into Pasta Lovers, a cosy after-dark experience that brings bona fide Italian flavours to the southern Gold Coast.

At the helm is Swiss-trained chef Etienne Olivier Magyar, known to everyone simply as Tino. Raised in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland, Tino cut his teeth with a chef apprenticeship and stints in traditional kitchens before sharpening his skills at two of Switzerland's leading hospitality schools. He soaked up experience everywhere he could before eventually trading Europe for Australia's sun-drenched coastline.

Once settled on the Gold Coast, Tino noticed a glaring gap in the market: nowhere was serving truly authentic, handmade Italian pasta at a price that did not require a special occasion. So, in classic chef fashion, he decided to fix it himself. While working as a cook at Home Cafe, owners Sam and Wade offered him the keys to the venue after dark — the perfect recipe to turn a long-nurtured dream into reality.

I have always wanted to open my own hospitality business, Tino says.

Channeling Home Cafe's ingrained community spirit, Tino has woven subtle Italian touches into the mid-century design. The intimate space seats around 40 guests across indoor and alfresco dining, radiating the kind of next-door-neighbour warmth you would expect — assuming your neighbour just happens to be an Italian chef.

Operating here lets me build the brand while connecting directly with the community, he explains.

On the food front, Tino has spent months testing, tweaking and refining every dish, building a dining experience anchored in honest Italian cooking. The menu is deliberately compact — when the ingredients are this good, there is simply no need to overcomplicate things. Think classic Italian recipes, filtered through Tino's own creative lens.

To begin, there is fresh bruschetta, with the traditional al Pomodoro — tomato and basil — already proving a crowd favourite. But the Stracciatella and Anchovies rendition is the sleeper hit for anyone keen to stray beyond the well-trodden classics.

Then comes the main attraction, and every single piece of pasta is made by Tino himself.

The undisputed hero of the menu is the Tricolore, named for the colours of the Italian flag. Handmade pasta is crowned with rich tomato sugo, basil pesto, stracciatella and crushed pistachios — a dish every bit as stunning as it is delicious. It is Italy, distilled onto a single plate.

Carbonara, Pesto, Vodka Sauce and Bolognese all hold prime real estate on the menu, while little pasta lovers are well looked after too. Kid-friendly plates including Pomodoro and Olio and Parmigiano are near-guaranteed to convert even the fussiest eaters into lifelong Italian food enthusiasts.

Round out the meal with classic Italian desserts — tiramisu and cannoli among them — more than enough to satisfy any sweet tooth.

There is no cocktail list, but that is entirely by design and all part of the charm. Pasta Lovers is proudly BYO, so you can pair your favourite bottle with handmade pasta exactly the way you like it. Now that is amore.

Where: Unit 4/42 Currumbin Creek Rd, Currumbin Waters. When: Thursday to Saturday, 5pm to 8pm.