Paying homage to a revered piece of design can go disappointingly wrong. Recreating the aesthetics without the original materials and finishes usually ends in something that descends into pastiche.

Natasha Sideris is certainly someone who understands this and has made sure that her new restaurant in Sea Point is underpinned by the same materials and workmanship of those iconic Cape Town restaurants like Venezia, Mario’s, Aldo’s and of course, the legendary and still-going La Perla.

Arlecchino (pronounced with a hard “c” … so “Arlerkino”) is just around the corner from La Perla and stepping through the doorway its appropriately 70s signage is to step into a time when Italian restaurants were not the homely pizza-and-pasta joints we mostly now know them as, but classy establishments that offered a slice of Mediterranean glamour.

And Tasha has clearly insisted on the best for her latest establishment. Those floors are part poured terrazzo and part hand-laid Italian marble mosaic… the tubular steel and woven cane Cesca chairs originally designed by Marcel Breuer in 1928, are not replicas, but originals made by Austrian furniture company Thonet who have been making the chairs from the start … and the bar, flown in from Milan, is made of burled walnut and rounded stainless steel. And how cool are those ruffle chandeliers … a nod to the neck ruffles on the iconic costume of the Arlecchino harlequin.

Along with those are solid wood surfaces and furnishings with brass and stainless steel details that you know are going to age beautifully into that beautifully patinated look those old restaurant all wore with pride. In fact that patina is already evident with some vintage furniture and ceramics adding a gently broken-in layer to the Arlecchino aesthetic.

The food, when you eventually start to think about that, has a suitably Mediterranean inclination and Arlecchino is open from 7:30am for breakfast, lunch and dinner, where its open and sunny spaces slink into an elegant parlour.

Breakfast runs from virtuous to decadent: Chia & Acai bowl – mixed berry and acai sorbet, chia, yoghurt, frozen blackberries, sweet cherries, a granola tuile – or Panettone French Toast with mascarpone and crème anglaise. The Italian Scramble delivers eggs, feta, tomato, peppers, bacon, spring onion, salsiccia, melba toast.

The menu shifts into antipasti, insalata and pasta. Verde Salad combines rocket, parmesan, fennel, dill, crispy artichoke – green on green with bite. Prawn Roll: buttered prawns, marie rose, grilled brioche. Amalfi Lemon achieves that elusive balance of sharp and silky. The Genovese takes the long route: slow-cooked beef sauce, calamarata pasta, the kind of comfort that requires time.

The mare (seafood) selection: Bazaruto Prawns in spiced cherry tomato and lemon with shoestring fries. Branzino, 500g line fish with either Salsa Fuoco Di Mare or Olive Oil and Oregano Salt, a dish that demands company and conversation.

Desserts walk the line between nostalgic and unexpected. A table-side Tiramisu layers dulce de leche, mascarpone cream, cocoa nib madeleine and hot espresso for a moment of theatre. The Campari Jelly – candied pistachios, vanilla custard, citrus jelly and negroni syrup – is a very boozy and grown-up take on jelly and custard.

“Arlecchino,” says its proprietor, “is a performance space disguised as restaurant. It possesses a certain theatrical charm – the sort of place that understands the difference between playing a role and playing at one.”

This article first appeared on visi.co.za.