Girls Night: Bloom, Potts Point, Pasta Making Class Review
As a woman who wants it all – and the chaos that comes with it – my life runs on equal parts spreadsheets, daycare drop-offs, and Pinot Noir poured just a little too late at night.
Luckily, I have fabulous, forgiving friends who don’t blink when I vanish to another state for weeks at a time. Why? Because they, too, are chasing it all – and wrangling the chaos – with lives just as full and fascinating.
When we finally regroup, it’s as if no time has passed… except our conversations have evolved: once about handsome men on business-class flights and disastrous Hinge dates, now about toddlers, puppies, egg-freezing and brand-new baby cuddles.
What ties us together? Big careers, big ideas, a refusal to bring other women down, and a shared love for food, fashion, travel, and the kind of activities that feel both indulgent and fun. Which is exactly how we ended up elbow-deep in flour at Bloom in Potts Point.
The Class
Just us four and Mauro – owner, chef, and proud grandson of a pasta-making Nonna from the sunny south of Italy. Patient, funny, and armed with stories, he showed us how to do pasta the real way. Unlike the pasta class I once took in Italy, this felt personal and relaxed. We weren’t just spectators; we got our hands sticky with egg-and-flour dough, then compared it to the drier, moodier semolina-and-water version.
We pressed orecchiette every which way: with a blunt butter knife, with our thumbs, and patterned with the back of a fork. We rolled long sheets through the pasta machine and sliced them into tagliatelle, linguine, and fettuccine. At one point, Mauro described making lasagne in such ahem sensuous detail that it wound the girls up. It was risqué PG – the kind that makes you snort, giggle, and in our case, cry actual tears of laughter. Italian food is a love affair, after all – and Chef Mauro is the pasta Romeo.
Between kneading dough, sipping Prosecco, and eventually switching to a velvety Italian red, it felt like the kind of night out you actually remember.
The Feast
After the floury fun, Mauro seated us for an antipasto spread that was nothing short of a revelation. Olives that glistened, charred eggplant with smoky depth, silky mortadella, roasted capsicum, pillowy focaccia… it was the freshest, most generous antipasto I’ve ever seen.
Then our very own pasta returned as two perfect dishes: a rich, slow-cooked ragu and a dreamy mushroom white sauce. Our learner pasta became a masterpiece! Turns out Mauro’s talent extends well beyond ahem describing and patiently teaching pasta.
Both were chef’s kiss delicious – the kind of food that makes you swear off packet pasta forever… because once you’ve seen how easy it is to make the real thing, there’s no going back.
Final Thoughts
Bloom’s Pasta Making Class in Potts Point gave us more than just dinner. It gave us an afternoon of laughter, learning, flour on our jeans, and memories we’ll retell for years. If you’re looking for something indulgent yet grounding, intimate yet lively – book it.
It’s the kind of girls’ day out that ends with full bellies, full hearts, and the smug satisfaction of being able to casually drop into conversation: “Oh, when I hand-rolled my own orecchiette… with our pasta Romeo.”
