{"id":51715,"date":"2025-08-08T01:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T01:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/51715\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T01:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T01:17:14","slug":"cucina-91-new-owner-aims-to-give-como-italian-restaurant-with-rocky-history-a-fresh-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/51715\/","title":{"rendered":"Cucina 91: New owner aims to give Como Italian restaurant with \u2018rocky history\u2019 a fresh start"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Italian restaurant in Como with has been given a new life under Italian-born owner Aljosa Cok, who opened Cucina 91 late last year with a promise of \u201cauthentic, simple Italian food done just right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Cok, who worked as a pizza chef and restaurant manager in both Italy and Perth, said he dined at the restaurant a year ago when it was called Casa Delizia and was \u201cpretty disappointed with the service and food,\u201d but knew the location and venue had potential.<\/p>\n

After another short-lived stint which \u201conly lasted four months and shut the doors overnight,\u201d the restaurant sat empty for eight months before Mr Cok stepped in.<\/p>\n

Mr Cok took over in December and said he wanted to bring \u201cfresh air\u201d to the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took us a while to get the place up and running because it was pretty well done … it took us a month to get tradies in, repainted, and then get all the bits and pieces together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe venue has been refreshed. Credit: Davide Zamboni<\/p>\n

\u201cWe opened the doors under new management, new staff, new menu and rebranded it Cucina 91. I picked 91 because it\u2019s the year of my birth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determined to leave the venue\u2019s past behind, Mr Cok said he refurbished the restaurant and introduced a new menu, a new wine and cocktail list, and a real focus on quality Italian food.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t keep anything from the old restaurant \u2014 menu-wise or food-wise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to see the place under new management and give it some fresh air.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe new menu aims for an authentic Italian experience. Credit: Davide Zamboni<\/p>\n

Mr Cok said Cucina 91 focused on authentic Italian cuisine, sourcing many ingredients from Italy.<\/p>\n

The menu leans into traditional Italian staples including Roman-style carbonara (no mushrooms, no bacon, and no cream), gnocchi, fresh pasta, veal milanese, chilli mussels, risotto, and a unique fried lasagna entree.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just normal lasagna coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried \u2014 it\u2019s crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are just trying to stick with what Italian food should taste like \u2014 nothing too special, just something done the right way,\u201d Mr Cok said.<\/p>\n

He said although they missed the summer rush, locals had embraced the new venture.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocals seem to enjoy the new food and atmosphere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty great \u2014 better than expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Preston Street location is open for dinner service five nights a week.<\/p>\n

\"CucinaCamera IconCucina 91 is open for dinner service five nights a week. Credit: Davide Zamboni<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Italian restaurant in Como with has been given a new life under Italian-born owner Aljosa Cok, who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,505,134,1295,46,18607,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-51715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-central","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-food","13":"tag-perth","14":"tag-southern","15":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}