Craving Carne & Cucina, Erina Heights

By day Carne & Cucina is a butcher shop but at night it transforms into one of the Central Coast's best restaurants. Located in a strip mall in Erina Heights, the menu is more than just meat. Find out what is a must order at Carne & Cucina!

Carne & Cucina is the latest restaurant from the couple Alexandra and Nico Coccia that owned Osteria il Coccia in Ettalong. He is the chef and she looks after the wine and front of house. Carne & Cucina opened in August 2024 and is a collaboration between the Coccia's and Saratoga Meats following the butcher supplying meat to their restaurant since 2023.

While the name suggests a very meat heavy menu, the menu is an Italian menu that has a little bit of everything with oysters, dips, seafood pasta and meats and the menu changes weekly. Inside the pink hued display of meat showing a large range of beef, pork and chicken cuts as well as dry aged cuts that creates a striking backdrop for the restaurant. There is also a good sized outdoor eating area which is where that we end up on this warm sunny autumn evening.

Nico comes out with another gift from the kitchen, its caramelised figs with ricotta with piadina. These glossy figs are firm, meaty and sweet.

Monica is from Emilia Romagna so as soon as she saw a piadina on the menu she wanted to order it. These round breads are made with pork fat and are usually as large as a tortilla and filled with a mix of meats and vegetables. Here are there are small blini sized discs served with tiramisu and ocean trout roe in a starter that is straight from heaven.

We also decided to share the Battuta or beef tartare that is made with grass fed eye fillet, hazelnut emulsion and blanketed with cacioricotta. At first it looks like the cheese layer is a bit heavy but it’s actually perfect and is what gives finely diced raw meat balance and seasoning along with the judicious use of capers.

The only problem is what to order when you overextend yourself on the starters? Do you go for a pasta? Or do you go for meat? We decide on meat given the setting. After much dithering, we both decide on the pork chop. They warn us that it will take 20 minutes as it is cooked from scratch, which is perfectly fine. The 450g/1lb aged pre-cut pork cutlet comes out on the bone with salsa verde, white beans and ham. We sink our knives into the pork steak and the meat is remarkable moist. There’s a layer of fat above this and then the most satisfying crackling crunch around the edge. The beans have a delicious citrus accent to them and pair well with the pork. For the side we pair this with a vinegar and oil dressed salad, the perfect accompaniment to the rich pork. And the prize is the bone which we take turns nibbling on.

The dessert menu is a separate one and we decide to share one. The menu changes weekly, but they tell us that the tiramisu is likely to always be on the menu so we go for the seasonal caramelised figs with chocolate cream, frozen meringue and sweet toasted croutons. It’s a delightful dessert that delivers both on texture and on flavour and despite being full we go back for spoonful after spoonful.

So tell me Dear Reader, how many courses do you usually have when you eat out?

This meal was independently paid for.

Carne & Cucina

1/488 The Entrance Rd, Erina Heights NSW 2260

Phone: (02) 4398 9018

Restaurant Wednesday & Thursday: 5:30pm til late, Friday & Saturday: 12pm til 3pm 5:30pm til late

Butcher Monday-Saturday: 8:30am - 5:30pm, Sunday: 8:30am - 2pm