A foccacia for the upper crust

A restaurateur in Darwin is clearly targeting the Northern Territories’ serious bread-winners with a new focaccia that will set punters back $300.

Paolo Milanesi, head chef at the new Il Piatto restaurant in Darwin’s SkyCity, has told the Northern Territories News that he developed the dish to teach Aussies a thing or two about real Italian cooking.

“People are starting to understand our philosophy. We use fresh food, with a real taste of Italia,” he claimed, adding that a total of six people have braved the price tag for a taste of Mr Milanesi’s epicurean delight, which is topped with a 12-year-old goat’s cheese, among other things.

However, he added that the $100 pizza – topped with wagyu beef, fresh lobsters and truffles – has proved considerably more popular, suggesting that even at the high end of Australia’s socioeconomic spectrum people are starting to quell their desire to splash out on luxuries.

Wagyu beef attracts infamously high prices, in part because of the unique rearing process.

The animals are subject to an entirely stress-free regime of massages, a spot of grazing and the occasional beer.