Fiorini's Italian restaurant outside Orange, which closed in 2024 after 17 years, was recently sold to Marina Fedeli’s niece Kelly Fedeli, who transformed it into a refreshed rustic dining experience. Renamed from "ristorante" to "osteria," the new Fiorini’s emphasizes farm-to-table cuisine with dishes like wild-boar ragu and smoked eel served in onion cups. The restaurant's new chef is Simonn Hawke, previously of Lolli Redini, and it features a contemporary take on classic Italian cooking.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In Orange, a small town in New South Wales, Fiorini's has undergone a remarkable transformation, maintaining its rustic charm while adding modern touches. Originally opened in 2007 by Patrizia Fiorini and Marina Fedeli, the restaurant closed for its original run after 17 years in 2024 but was sold to Kelly Fedeli, Marina’s niece, who has reimagined it. Kelly, along with her brother, had previously relaunched Il Baretto in Paddington in 2020, based on their mother's original Surry Hills diner from 1999. The refurbished Fiorini’s now combines the warmth of a Tuscan villa with the practicality of its corrugated iron exterior, making it a standout destination in the Central West region.
Written for “Italian Farmhouse Refresh” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Fiorini's
Italian$$
The grill outside is smouldering.
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grill → smoulder → ?
Smoke curls into the air.
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Smoke → curl → air
Over the road, a cow grazes in a meadow.
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cow → graze → meadow
If you stumbled on Fiorini’s for the first time right here and now, you’d be forgiven for thinking this property, 10 minutes outside Orange, was little more than a barn, the walls and roof clad in corrugated iron.
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walls → stumble → iron
Look harder, though, and there’s a glow behind the windows that, once you swing open the brick-red door (the colour of sugo?), transforms into a steady hum.
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you → look → hum
Families fill antique tables.
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Families → fill → tables
Waiters float around the room, checking vases, updating specials on the blackboard.
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Waiters → float → blackboard
It’s rustic, but refreshed, a Tuscan villa in a tin-shed, right down to the landscapes on the walls and the hunk of marbled beef tempering on the countertop.
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Plenty of restaurants feel lived-in, but not many manage to maintain that feeling when they gain a new lease on life.
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they → feel → life
Fiorini’s is one of the rare few, and in doing so has reclaimed a place as one of the Central West’s essential destinations.
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Fiorini → do → destinations
Opened in 2007 by Patrizia Fiorini and Marina Fedeli, the restaurant ended its original run after 17 years in 2024.
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restaurant → open → 2024
Rather than close, though, it was sold to Marina’s niece Kelly Fedeli, who in 2020 had teamed up with her brother to relaunch Il Baretto in Paddington, based on the Italian diner their mother founded in Surry Hills in 1999.
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mother → sell → 1999
The siblings have since opened a second Il Baretto in Newtown, but not before Fedeli moved to Orange to reinvigorate her aunt’s old restaurant.
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Fedeli → open → restaurant
She ground down the floor, installed a commercial kitchen and painted.
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Fedeli then changed the tagline from “ristorante” to “osteria”.
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Fedeli → change → osteria
“I wanted to imply that there was a change, because it is very different to what my aunty was doing before,” Fedeli says.
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Fedeli → want → what
I really wanted to keep that, but just elevate it a little bit.”
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The grounding element of that is a farm-to-table concept; another is how it’s realised.
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it → ground → table
Raw local venison is diced, dressed heavily with capers and chives, then served with onion cups piped full of smoked eel and garlic whip.
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venison → dice → eel
Moonlight oysters are plated on upturned shells, then finished with a curl of pickled octopus.
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oysters → plat → octopus
This is classic cooking, but there’s clearly inspiration in this kitchen.
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It’s helmed by Simonn Hawke – former chef-owner of local institution Lolli Redini – but the signing of Aline de Freitas (Shell House; Bar Vincent) seems to have sharpened the edges.
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signing → helm → edges
Dressings are bright, greens are just wilted, and sirloin – finished with truffle mustard – has heft and chew.
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sirloin → wilt → heft
I ate a lot of pasta in Orange, each plate getting progressively better until I came to Fiorini’s, and it suddenly levelled up.
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it → eat → Fiorini
Here, short tubes of mezze maniche were coated in rubbly, rust-coloured wild-boar ragu that was herbal, rich and deeply integrated.
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that → coat → ragu
Tables turn, waiters smile and pour wines from a one-pager that gives time to both classic and less-classic locals.
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that → turn → locals
You swipe a spoon through a tiramisu, tinted green with pistachio.
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The sun starts to peek through the window.
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sun → start → window
Something’s clicked.
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This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently.
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A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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The Aporia
