Last updated: June 14, 2024
Punto Italian Kitchen on Heaton Road in Heaton, Newcastle is the definition of a ‘neighbourhood restaurant’. This modern Italian eaterie serves up authentic award-winning food, with many dishes on the menu using recipes which have been passed down from the owners’ parents and grandparents.
Having just added some new dishes to a newly launched Summer menu, Luxe Bible were excited to try the new additions and find out more about this popular award-winning restaurant.
Co-founder Zeno is one of the friendliest restaurateurs we’ve had the pleasure to chat to. Fiercely passionate about Italy, gastronomy and his family, he tells us animatedly about his upbringing in Lazio, and his life in Heaton itself when his parents owned this very restaurant and the family lived upstairs.
Creating simple dishes with locally sourced ingredients is key to the success of Punto Italian – the honey used on the honey sesame crusted pizza for example is made by an old friend and neighbour living right by the restaurant. The meat comes from Block & Bottle – the local butchers a few doors down and Zeno is more than happy to recommend these incredible local businesses which share the same street.
As they’re new to the Spring menu, we try the Polpette con Passata – a traditional recipe of nonna Lidia’s using both beef and pork in a rich signature passata. These delicious balls of goodness are flavoured well and are a great start to dinner. Whipped ricotta montata drizzled with honey and flavoured with lemon and thyme comes next – it’s silky and luxurious and we pile fresh focaccia with the light and airy ricotta.
Rigatoni alla zozzona is a unique tasting pasta with a rich, hard-to-put-your-finger on flavour. Made with egg yolk, sweet and nutty grana padono dop, sharp and salty pecorino, guanciale (which is made from pork cheeks), Tuscan sausage and a Casa Firelli hot Italian sauce, it’s an addictive dish that you can quite get enough of when every one of your tastebuds is reacting to all of the different tastes.
The staff work incredibly hard and every single thing on the menu is made in house. The pizza chef while still only 19 (I think we were told), is their longest member of staff, churning out perfect wood-fired pizzas with unusual combinations of toppings that you won’t find elsewhere. Zeno tells us the sourdough recipe here is unique – a double malted pizza dough aged for 72 hours which feels much lighter than normal dough, and creates an excellent crust and a lovely colour to the pizza.
We go for the Nduja Like Goats Cheese topped with pools of just melted cheese, signature tomato sauce and the Heaton honey glazed sesame crust. It’s a feast for all the senses with a healthy amount of kick.
Suitably stuffed but unable to resist, we greedily order dessert too. The lemon and pistachio cannolo is another new addition to the menu with tubes of crispy fried pastry oozing with whipped ricotta and mascarpone cream. The cannolo has a good crunch and great texture against the lemony filling.
Not only did we love the food, but the restaurant vibe was buzzy, the interiors modern and bright, and the staff, so happy to help. Punto Italian offer a range of special deals Monday to Thursday like two signature mains, two sides and two drinks for just £20pp, while kids under 12 eat for free from the kids menu.
We’ve also heard their Sunday lunches are pretty amazing and we can’t wait to visit again. Check out the website here.
