Piatti Italiani is a family-owned Italian restaurant at 5 Hebron Road in Waiake, on Auckland's North Shore, run by the father-and-son team of Alfio and Giancarlo. For over ten years they have been welcoming guests to evenings of traditional, authentic Italian dining in a room they describe as your home away from home.
The cooking is inherited rather than invented. Alfio, born to Italian immigrant parents, learned the food first in his mother's kitchen, where the captivating aromas and flavours ignited a passion he now shares with diners. Giancarlo discovered his own love of cooking as a young child in his Nonna's kitchen and later became an indispensable force in the restaurant's operations — with a knack for crafting exquisite cocktails and specialty coffees that add flair to the end of the meal.
Evening service runs Tuesday to Saturday, with bookings accepted from around 5pm, last orders at 8pm and the room open till late; Saturdays begin at 4pm. The restaurant keeps a wine list, publishes BYO policies, and has been named one of the 5 best Italian restaurants in Auckland by Top Reviews NZ.
Beyond the dining room there is a Click and Collect menu (Tuesday to Saturday, 5–8pm), private luncheons available any day of the week, private dinners on Sundays and Mondays, gift vouchers, and a Supergold Card offer.
Piatti Italiani, on Hebron Road in Waiake on Auckland's North Shore, is the kind of restaurant that can't be manufactured: a place where the food comes straight out of an actual family memory. For more than ten years, the father-and-son team of Alfio and Giancarlo have been welcoming guests here for evenings of traditional Italian dining — cooking built on recipes learned in other people's kitchens, long before the restaurant had a name.
Alfio was born to Italian immigrant parents, and it was his mother's kitchen — its captivating aromas and flavours — that first ignited his passion for Italian cuisine. At Piatti Italiani he shares those culinary experiences with his guests, infusing every dish with the essence of his Italian upbringing. The restaurant's own homepage borrows a line from Luciano Pavarotti to make the point: one of the very nicest things about life is that we must regularly stop whatever we are doing and devote our attention to eating.
Giancarlo's story starts even younger. As a young child he discovered his love of cooking in his Nonna's kitchen, eagerly assisting alongside his brother. So when Alfio decided to bring his vision to life as Piatti Italiani, Giancarlo embraced his father's concept wholeheartedly and became an indispensable force in the restaurant's operations. You'll meet his work beyond the plates, too: Giancarlo has a knack for crafting exquisite cocktails and specialty coffees, adding his own flair to the dining experience.
The formula has been noticed. Piatti Italiani has been named one of the five best Italian restaurants in Auckland by Top Reviews NZ — recognition the family wears lightly, but which reflects the consistency of a kitchen that has stayed on brief for a decade: traditional, authentic Italian meals, served with warmth.
Piatti is an evening restaurant. Normal trading runs Tuesday to Saturday, with dinner service from 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and from 4pm on Saturdays. Bookings are accepted through the evening — last orders at 8pm, with the room staying open till late. This is a place to settle in rather than eat and run, and the family's framing of the meal as the thing you devote your attention to is reflected in the unhurried pace of the room.
The restaurant closes to the public on Sundays and Mondays, but not entirely to the world: Piatti is available for private luncheons on any day of the week, and for private dinners on Sundays and Mondays, with minimum terms and conditions applying. Larger gatherings are clearly part of the rhythm here — anyone booking a table of eight or more is asked to call the restaurant directly rather than book online.
On the drinks side, Piatti keeps a wine list and also publishes BYO policies, so the evening can be paired either with a bottle from the house list or with your own, under the house rules. Giancarlo's cocktails and specialty coffees give the night a proper finish either way.
Couldn't make it in? A Click and Collect menu runs Tuesday to Saturday, from 5pm to 8pm, through the restaurant's online ordering page, bringing the same kitchen's food to the kitchen table at home. Gift vouchers can be purchased on the website, there's a dedicated Supergold Card page for cardholders, and a newsletter and feedback channel keep the family's regulars in the loop.
“Welcome to Piatti Italiani — your home away from home,” the website says, and after ten-plus years in Waiake that's clearly more than a slogan. It's a neighbourhood Italian where the welcome is familial, the cooking is inherited, and the evening is allowed to run long. To book, phone 09 478 6936 or email [email protected] — and if you're planning a group of eight or more, the phone is definitely the way to do it.