HOT: Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Saluminsti is an Italian-style warehouse cafe in North Melbourne, hidden at the intersection of two cobblestone laneways.

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Saluminsti is a labour of love for Frank, one of the co-owners, despite being a pop up for only 12 months (at this stage) as it sits at the back of the building that’s slated to be turned into apartments.

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Frank fitted out the warehouse kitchen, storage and dining space all himself and he’s passionate about the food at Saluminsti. It has an authentic honesty about it and it turns out that all of the recipes on the simple menu are from Frank’s family. He wanted to bring to diners the sort of food that he grew up with and he’s taken these traditional dishes and given them a modern twist. My Italian companion remarked on how many of the dishes she also remembered from her childhood.

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Currently the menu has three ciabatta options – a melt-in-the-mouth free range porchetta stuffed with artichoke paste, rocket and shaved pecorino ($12), a cotoletta just like nonna’s with a vincotto mayo, Italian coleslaw and provolone ($12) and a slightly spicy pork and fennel sausage with roasted peperonata and pecorino ($11).

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

The ciabatta is quite remarkable – pillowy and soft and not so crusty it hurts your mouth. Frank wouldn’t divulge his secret supplier but did wax lyrical about the 36 hour proven dough and stone-baked bread.

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

The smallgoods hanging in the fridge are currently for show only – until they’re cooked they can’t be sold. It’s worth ordering the Salsiccia ciabatta just so you can try the pork and fennel sausage. Later the plan is to retail and wholesale the salumi and to run sausage-making and salami-making classes.

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

We accompanied our sandwiches with a cup of patate fritte, crispy chips zhuzhed up with fresh herbs and reggiano ($5).

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

The coffee is made with Italy’s favourite Lavazza and the cafetiere is a bargain – a traditional Neapolitan-style 2 cup with a syrupy crema on the bottom could easily satisfy 3 or 4 people and it comes with some sweet biscotti on the side for only $5.

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Finally, try the sugar encrusted bomboloni, made fresh every day on site. These are Italian-style doughnuts so a bit denser than the standard American-style doughnut, but still very light.

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Both the Nutella and slightly citrus crema paticcera are delicious.

Saluministi, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Saluminsti is a small Italian gem hidden in North Melbourne, a place brimming with enthusiasm and passion while serving up some authentic, old school Italian goodness. Buon appetito!

Saluminsti, 8 Atkins St, North Melbourne

Tue-Sun 7:30am-4pm

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HOT: Lygon Food Store, 263 Lygon Street, Carlton

Lygon food store

Lygon Food Store was a pioneer in Melbourne in the 1950s. This iconic Carlton cafe and food store opened 63 years ago as one of the first suppliers of imported products from Italy and it was the first shop in Lygon Street to serve Lavazza coffee.

Lygon food store

This unpretentious establishment has long been a favourite with uni students and academics for a casual breakfast or a hearty lunch.

Lygon food store

Their huge ciabattas and baguettes are excellent value (all under $10) and the glass cabinet holds a rotating mouth-watering selection of Italian meals, soups and salads.

lygon food store

The cartoccio, an oval mass of pizza dough, squidgy mozzarella and laden to overflowing with antipasti and charcuterie, is one of their specialities. It’s big enough to share between two or three, making it an economical lunch for $14.50.

Lygon food store

About a month ago Lygon Food Store opened its doors for dinner on Thursday to Sunday evenings.

I was invited to sample some of the dinner menu, which has an emphasis on Southern Italian cuisine mainly from Puglia, the region that owner Pasquale Coco knows best. Some of the recipes are from his family, some have been devised by Pasquale who is also the chef.

Lygon food store

The highlight of the preview was the serves of pasta and the risotto Milanese, all cooked al dente and adorned with the simplest of sauces to highlight the freshness of the ingredients. All the pastas and stone fired pizzas are under $20.

Lygon food store

There are just four main dishes to choose from – a veal osso bucco, rockling fillet, crunchy eggplant polpetta with spicy caponata and couscous and in a nod to on-trend ingredients, a light quinoa salad. Again, each of the mains was very reasonably priced under $30.

Lygon food store

While bright new eateries ensure that Lygon Street is ever-evolving it’s always nice to revisit old favourites. Lygon Food Store is a Melbourne institution for a reason and now you can enjoy their wares (and do your deli shopping) morning, noon and night.

Lygon Food Store, 263 Lygon Street, Carlton

Monday – Wednesday, 7am – 6pm
Thursday – Sunday, 7am – 10pm

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HOT: The Grand Masters, The Grand Hotel, 333 Burnley St, Richmond

the grand richmond

Melbourne has so many eateries opening week after week that it’s easy to get caught up in the fervour of chasing new dining experiences.

But we musn’t forget the stalwarts of the city’s dining scene, places like The Grand Hotel in Richmond that have been serving happy customers for more than twelve years in Burnley Street.

I confess that despite moving to Melbourne twelve years ago myself I have never ventured to The Grand until last week. I was invited to attend one of The Grand’s special monthly events, The Grand Masters dinner to celebrate the old guard of Melbourne restaurant scene for AFR’s Australia’s Top 100 Restaurants, the only peer voted restaurant list in Australia.

the grand richmond

Branco Cokesa, Alex Almatrah and Peter Watt  are three front of house staff that have worked in the hospitality business for over 40 years and together garnered over 165 (!) chef hats between them. While they served the diners in one of The Grand’s upstairs function rooms, they regaled us with anecdotes about ACDC, Billy Joel, Alan Bond and other celebrities, shared stories about their love for hospitality and the special place The Grand had in their hearts.

the grand richmond

The night highlighted the skill of The Grand’s co-head chefs, two young Italians in their late 20s with Michelin-starred resumes.

the grand richmond

First course was a Battuta di Tonno, a simple tuna tartare inspired by Olimpia Bortolotto’s dish served at Cafe Meni’s in St Kilda.

the grand richmond

The pasta course was a dish that – chef Valerio Nucci’s Vincisgrassi Lasagne. It’s a traditional dish from the Marche region of Italy and not one you’re likely to find on many restaurant menus. The secret ingredients? Pot roasted chuck steak slow-cooked with vegetables and herbs, chopped kidneys brains and liver and lashings of butter!

the grand richmond

The main course was a melting roast porchetta with baby carrots, beetroot and spinach inspired by Bill Marchetti’s Latin, THE place for the rich and famous to dine in the 80s and 90s.

the grand richmond

The finale was developed by the The Grand’s ‘Young Guns in the Kitchen’ a white chocolate semifreddo with caramelised rock melon. It’s not often you see melon on dessert menus these days and the refreshing sweetness was a perfect counterpoint for the richness of the previous savoury dishes.

The Grand is the kind of place that families visit over generations and it has consistently been awarded one hat since 2006.  It’s not flashy or cutting edge but serves authentic Italian food in a warm and inviting environment where you know you’ll be taken care of. Treasure it, Melbourne.

The Grand Masters Wednesday 20 May and Wednesday 27 May

The Como Room, The Grand, 333 Burnley Street, Richmond 

Mon – Sun 12pm till 11pm

Fri – Sat 12pm till 1am

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HOT: Ovest, 572 Barkly St, West Footscray

ovest

Hooray! Good pizza arrives in Barkly Street West Footscray thanks to Ovest (which means ‘west’ in Italian but also unfortunately clashes with the name of the Footscray Hospital cafeteria and a vaginal cream!).

Ovest is a project of passionate westies Alex Rogers of Seddon’s , and Ben Sisley, the former head chef at St Kilda pizzeria Mr Wolf.

The modernist building used to house the ANZ bank and Serbian social club and now it contains a shiny Spanish stone-deck electric oven that churns out delicious pizzas six days a week.

ovest

The menu includes entrees of mostly fried things (saganaki, calamari, fritters) plus sizzling garlic prawns and buffalo mozzarella served with bresaola and figs. The mains include a tuna nicoise salad, lasagna, cannelloni and daily roast pulled from the same pizza oven.

Pizzas are the name of the game here, with fourteen to choose from (gluten free bases are an extra $1). They are large do I recommend one between two.

I particularly like their margherita, which is fragrant with fresh basil and melted buffalo mozzarella ($17.50), as well as the prawn pizza with a bianco base (ie olive oil, no passata) generously topped with cubes of zucchini, chilli, mint, ricotta and fior de latte ($21).

ovest

We’ve tried the pizzas both eat in and takeaway and can highly recommend them. The bases are crisp rather than chewy so whether you like it depends on your personal preference – but the toppings are excellent, full of flavour and colour. The first time we tried the pizzas we did think that they contained too much residual oil but this has not been the case on subsequent visits.

ovest

For dessert we shared a rich dark chocolate mousse ($10) and vanilla flecked yoghurt panna cotta in a glass with mango jelly ($10). Both were pretty good without being amazing so if you’re too full from pizza then give them a miss.

ovest west footscray

We visited on the third day of opening and found the service a bit chaotic (incorrect reservation, slow to serve, missing cutlery) but hopefully those glitches have been smoothed over now. Also note that the industrial space of metal and timber floors can get very loud and I think a few softening touches in the decor would help with the noise levels. It was half full on our visit and already too loud for easy conversation.

ovest

Ovest is a great local pizzeria for an easy dinner with family and friends and as a fussy pizza eater I think it makes the best pizzas in the inner west that I’ve tried so far.

Ovest, 572 Barkly St, West Footscray

Tue-Sun 5pm-late

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HOT: Mio Locale 465 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy North

mio locale

Mio Locale fills a culinary and coffee gap in an odd no-man’s land section of Brunswick Street.

Fitzroy’s abundant supply of cafe and shopping scene peters out abruptly at Alexandra Parade and don’t really resume again until you hit North Fitzroy village. The new Bellini apartments have now been completed on the corner of Alexandra Parade and Brunswick Street and part of the development is Mio Locale.

mio locale

The concrete shell, decorated with black glossy tiles and brass trims, is small but welcoming. They manage to make almost all their food in house, other than the bread which comes from Dench Bakers in North Fitzroy.

mio locale

mio locale

The owners are a sister-brother team of Italian heritage and they pride themselves on sourcing local produce, using fresh, seasonal ingredients for their breakfast and lunch menu.

This translates to a small menu of accessible cafe dishes with an Italian twist, generously portioned, and brought to your table with a smile. I was invited to try the cafe with my family.

mio locale

To start we had a pear and cinnamon smoothie and a yoghurt-based berry smoothie. Both sweet and filling and enough of a meal on their own.

mio locale

The creamy and nutty coffee came from Strada Coffee and they source their tea from organic Chamellia Tea.

mio locale

For something simple, done well, go for the Fancy Pants Toastie ($13). It’s an melting ham and cheese toasted sandwich, crowed with a fried egg and with the crusts neatly lopped off. A dab of housemade relish rests on the side. Personally I prefer crusty sandwiches so I’m sure you can just ask for them to keep the crusts on!

mio locale

I decided to choose the heartier dish of chickpeas with Calabrian salami, sugo, spinach and garum ($16). It was full of punchy, vibrant flavours and exactly the kind of dish best finish with a mopping of bread. It kept me going for most of the day, though if you’re looking for extra protein you can choose to add a poached egg.

mio locale

mio locale

The pastries, cakes and biscuits are all house made and I just fell in love with the huge yo-yos filled with mocha cream, a steal at $2.50.

Mio Locale is just a stone’s throw from picnic hotspot Edinburgh Gardens, so it’s fitting that they provide picnic packs for those who don’t fancy catering their own spread. They are also waiting on a liquor licence so that they can start opening in the evening to turn Mio Locale into a wine bar.

I wish Mio Locale was my local! But lucky northsiders can enjoy it seven days a week.

Mio Locale, 465 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy North

Mon-Fri 7am-4pm

Sat-Sun 8am-4pm

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HOT: Il Melograno, 76 High Street, Northcote


SONY DSC

I am a gelato snob. Nothing gives me more joy in a gelateria than seeing a row of gleaming metal pozzetti tubs – because it’s the best indication of good quality gelati without actually tasting it. As soon as I walked into  (‘The Pomegranate Tree) in Northcote I knew that I was in for a treat.

il melograno

Gelati made the traditional way contains real fruit and nuts, high quality cream and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. It disintegrates quickly and the metal containers help preserve the gelato in its best condition. An Australian gelateria that takes the time and expense to import pozzetti from Italy cares greatly about the quality of its product. And they’ve imported a Sicilian gelato maker to boot!

il melograno

I tried the pure milk fior di latte, the vibrant pink strawberry with crushed pips still evident and the exotic sounding Iranian pistachio and hazelnut, nubbly with crushed nuts. They were all fresh-tasting and had a fluffy lightness in texture that comes with being just-churned. Plus you can even eat the cups!

The gelati was so good I knew I wanted more of it…but I thought I’d probably better have lunch.

il melograno

I found a sunny nook in their narrow Italianate courtyard, complete with a lemon tree, and settled down in inspect their mostly Italian inspired breakfast and lunch menu.

il melograno

The sandwiches come on super-crusty loaves and traditional fillings such as melt-in-the-mouth San Daniele proscuitto, buffalo mozzarella, tomato and rocket ($14).

il melograno

I also tried a bowl of their hand-rolled fusilli, thin cigarillos capturing a creamy sauce of swiss brown mushrooms, pancetta and rocket ($17).

il melograno

For dessert instead of gelato again I compromised with the oven-baked pancake which came with a dollop of gelato. This was a rather dense and wet cake and while flavoursome probably not one of the better whole-pan style hot cakes I’ve had in terms of texture.

il melograno

If you’re still in the mood for sweets then a family friend of the owner makes all the authentic Italian cakes and pastries on the counter top. The coffee comes from the wood bean roaster housed inside a glass room.

 is the perfect Italian pit-stop enroute to Westgarth Cinema but it’s so good that it’s worth a special trip. It’s one of my Top 10 places to enjoy gelato in Melbourne, check out the rest of the list.

, 76 High Street, Northcote, 9482 2092

Tue to Sun 11am–10.30pm

Il Melograno on Urbanspoon

HOT: Fox in the Corn, 4 Droop Street, Footscray

fox in the corn

It’s a good thing my paleo diet experiment died in its early stages (‘Faileo?’), as it means that I can eat my way through the fresh pasta available at Fox in the Corn in Footscray seven days a week.

Fox in the Corn is a new venture from the founders of in Williamstown. Five years after establishing their wholesale pasta business, they’ve decided to re-inject Mediterranean fare back into Asian and African-dominated Footscray.

Fox in the Corn, 4 Droop Street, Footscray

The space is handsome and light-filled. Plywood black padded booths hug a U-shape around the white-subway-tiled bar (they’re still waiting on their liquor licence and will serve craft beers as soon as it’s approved). There are a few subtle hints of greenery here and there, including a giant terrarium.

fox in the corn

The menu is a one-page affair. There are three simple starters – olives, jamon, pickled octopus – a green salad and a caprese salad. The main event is the pasta and you can choose between fettuccine or ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta or beef (+ $3).

The difficulty is in selecting a sauce. There are eleven to choose from, with a pasta served with house made napoli starting at $12.50 to most expensive dish being smoked salmon cream, rocket and capers ($18).

fox in the corn

I decided on fettuccine with slow cooked beef ragu with spring onion ($17.50) and ravioli with pancetta, leek and tomato with panko and parsley ($16.50). Both dishes were generously sized and two dishes could easily feed three people.

fox in the corn

The fettucine ribbons were squiggly and slightly chewy, as good handmade pasta should be. The ravioli had a good proportion of filling vs casing and was similarly cooked al dente. Of the two sauces I preferred the pancetta as it had a complexity of flavour from the chunks of smoky pancetta that the ragu (what most of us know as bolognaise) lacked. Though I was impressed by the beef, which is minced in house.

For dessert there’s a range of Gundowring flavours ($4.50) but we were so full from our pasta that we didn’t need anything else.

Fox in the Corn is one of a kind in Footscray and I think it will do well. They’re open 11am-11pm which means we could have a kid-friendly dinner at 5pm. The pasta is excellent quality and the sauces are vibrant and fresh, with enough options to suit every taste. If you’re not in the mood for a meal then they also serve a weekly rotation of coffee beans from Monk Bodhi Dharma.

Fox in the Corn, 4 Droop Street, Footscray

Daily 11am-11pm

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HOT: Pidapipo, 299 Lygon Street, Carlton

pidapipo carlton

Pipapipo is a new addition to the Lygon Street ice cream/gelato strip and in a prime position across the road from Cinema Nova. You can’t miss it because there is a big red neon sign proclaiming ‘gelateria’ in the window.

According to this fascinating article, you can generally judge the quality of gelati from 15 feet, without actually smelling, touching or tasting the product. You just need to look for a couple of things:

  1. No fake colours in the fruit flavours.
  2. How the gelati is stored and displayed.
  3. Seasonal fruit flavours offered.
  4. Translucency in the lemon gelato.
  5. Do they offer fior di latte or fior di panna, which exposes the quality of the milk/cream?
  6. Do they offer hazelnut – gram for gram the most expensive gelato to produce?

Pipapipo scores 6 out of 6 but it really deserves a taste test.

pidapipo carlton

The marble counter curves around the width of the relatively small, pastel-coloured shop. There are a few tables inside and out but it’s more of a walk-in, walk-out scenario.

Every day up to twenty flavours fill stainless steel pozzetti, which keep the temperature of the gelato constant so it doesn’t freeze, melt and refreeze. Flavours range from traditional to modern, fruity to rich. Hiding the flavours under lids is a pretty good indicator of how good the gelato will be – there’s no need to show it off in high, brightly hued mounds.

pidapipo carlton

The owner Lisa Valmorbida is of Italian heritage and trained at Carpigiani Gelato University in Italy then worked in a gelateria in Vicenza. The gelato is churned daily on site using the best imported Italian and local ingredients. The pistachios are from Bronte, Sicily, the best hazelnuts in the world from Piedmont, Warrnambool Jersey milk, ricotta from La Formaggeria and the honey and fresh honeycomb from the rooftop hives by Honey Fingers.  Absolutely no artificial flavours or colours.

pidapipo carlton

Their hazelnut is powerfully nutty and velvety on the tongue, not a hint of grittiness or powdery aftertaste. The fior di latte is creamy and pure in flavour – it requires no adornment, not even vanilla beans (the traditional no-flavour flavoured ice cream).

pidapipo carlton

I like my gelato simple but you can jazz yours up with a cone filled with liquid Nutella or Valrhona chocolate on top, sandwiched inside a fat Sicilian brioche bun or even thrown in a coke float (an ice cream spider in my vernacular).

For the quality of the goods the prices are   very reasonable too – $4 for a single flavour, $6 for two flavours and $7 for three flavours. 1kg take home tubs are $10 and prettily wrapped in their pastel-coloured geometric paper.

pidapipo carlton

Pipapipo is my new favourite gelateria  – I was invited to their launch and have been back almost weekly since. With this heat wave we’re experiencing no doubt they will do very well this summer.

Pidapipo, 299 Lygon Street, Carlton,

Mon – Sun: 12:00pm to 11:00pm

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HOT: Gradi at Crown, Shop 25, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank

gradi crown

Crowning the world’s best margherita pizza is a big ask….but Johnny Di Francesco, chef and owner of  Brunswick pizzeria 400 Gradi was awarded this accolade by the judges at World Pizza Championships in Italy in April 2014.

Luckily for Melburnians, 400 Gradi has just expanded into their second restaurant at Crown and it serves the same fantastic pizzas and other traditional Italian and Neapolitan dishes as the original restaurant.

gradi crown
I was invited to a first taste of Gradi at Crown’s menu and I can attest that every single dish was delicious, authentic and well-presented. A dining experience that was almost flawless from start to finish.

gradi crown

At the entrance to Gradi at Crown you’re greeted by a large rack of salumi and enormous wheels of cheese. In fact as soon as you walk into the restaurant you smell cured meats, not pizza!

On the left of the salumi counter is a Venetian-style cicchetti bar where you can snack on freshly cut salumi and formaggi over a glass or two of Italian wine. All the cheese is imported from Italy while the majority of the salumi is also imported from Italy with a few Australian exceptions, such as the mortadella.

gradi crown

On the right stretches a massive dining space with cosy chocolate easy chairs and a combination of large and small tables. I particularly liked the communal marble-topped table overhung with glistening copper pots as decoration.

gradi crown

The copper motif extends to the two glorious wood fired ovens presiding over the pizza making station. The two ovens were in constant use during our dinner, doling out pizza after pizza from its fiery depths.

gradi crown

Our dinner started with a selection of salumi served atop a thin wafer of Sardinian ‘carasau’ bread. My favourite was the Prosciutto Crudo Mornello 18month ($6.50 for 30g, $14 for 70g), thinly sliced and meltingly tender. I don’t know what they feed those pigs but the prosciutto tasted distinctly of soy sauce (the quality Japanese stuff, not Maggi)! Umami heaven.

gradi crown

From the formaggi selection I enjoyed the novelty of the Bello Lodi Raspadura, which comes in big wheels with shavings slipped into a neat paper bag ($6 for 30g, $13 for 70g). A couple of slivers dissolved on the tongue was just perfect.

gradi crown

The antipasti selection is mostly about beef and seafood. The standout was the only version of surf and turf that I condone – vitello tonnato ($19). A platter of finely sliced slow cooked beef, served cold with a velvety sauce of tuna, mascarpone, mayonnaise and fat, not too salty, capers.

gradi crown

For those not watching their waistline too much I urge you to try the montanare fritte. I wasn’t sure what they were based on the description on the menu and I was expecting small dough balls.

gradi crown

Montanare fritte turned out to be deep fried pizza dough crowned with savoury toppings ($15 for 3). Plump pillows of featherlight dough – a dangerously addictive savoury doughnut! My favourite topping was the ‘classica’ with San Marzano tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil and parmesan, full of sunny margherita pizza flavours.

Which turns me to the main event – the pizza. Chef Johnny Di Francesco is the first Australian ever trained in Naples to the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana rules. There are fourteen choices on the menu, all traditional combinations. They don’t offer gluten-free pizza as so much flour gets scattered around the kitchen that it’d be impossible to manage the potential cross-contamination (though they do offer gluten-free pasta on request).

The margherita ($21) and the caserta ($25.50) were the standouts. Is it the best margherita pizza in the world? I’m not the authoritative judge of that but these pizzas ticked all the right boxes for me.

gradi crown

Smoky, yeasty, slightly chewy crust that wasn’t soggy. Simple toppings with quality, high flavour ingredients. The caserta had the extra edge over the margherita, thanks to that 18 month prosciutto again.

gradi crown

If you’re an unadulterated carb lover then you can find more dough in the dessert menu. Gradi at Crown offer calzone with nutella and ricotta or coffee and mascarpone ($15).

gradi crown

The excellent crust meant that the molten filling didn’t turn the whole package into a soggy mess. In terms of flavour I preferred the coffee over the nutella (normally my favourite) as I found the mixture of ricotta made the filling heavier and diluted the telltale choc-hazelnut sweetness.

gradi crown

The dessert menu also offers tiramisu ($15), sweetly served in a pot-bellied jar and well-balanced in its layering of mascarpone and sponge, coffee and port liqueur.

gradi crown

The dark chocolate fondant ($15) was similarly perfect, with a release of molten chocolate lava upon spoon entry and a spongy exterior.

The only downfall of the desserts was that they appeared to be served with mass-produced vanilla ice cream, a curious anomaly to a menu otherwise concerned with top quality produce and the provenance of ingredients.

My dinner at Gradi at Crown was an excellent way to carb-load to a satisfied tummy. Their pizzas are certainly contenders for some of the best pizza I’ve ever eaten but they don’t fall short in other parts of their menu either. Go the dough!

Gradi at Crown, Shop 25, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank

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HOT: Olivigna, 54-56 Brumbys Road, Warrandyte South

olivigna

Love the idea of sunning yourself in Tuscany but can’t afford the airfare? Believe it or not, a little bit of Italy can be found at Olivigna at Warrandyte South, just 30 minutes from Melbourne.

olivigna

Drive up to Olivigna, surrounded by tall cypress trees, and it’s like driving up towards the Tuscan hills. The 20 acre property contains olive groves, a vineyard, orchard and garden, with a rustic stone restaurant, La Sala, at its centre.

olivigna

olivigna

The restaurant is large and bright and provides stunning views over the rolling hills of Warrandyte/Tuscany. I particularly loved the enormous gothic chandeliers presiding over the massive fireplace and the dining hum full of families and celebration.

The site is a dream and work in progress for the owners, Black Salt Catering’s Anna Gallo and developer John Di Pietro. Their love of the place is evident from all the small touches in the restaurant, such as the wooden shoe lasts picked up from France to use as coat racks.

olivigna

As part of Olivigna mission to be an Italianate food and wine destination, they hold regularly Italian cooking classes on site. I was invited to a pasta making class at Olivigna which took place on one side of La Sala with Piera Benini, the restaurant’s pasta chef and a native of Bologna (a city known for its food and has the nickname ‘Fat Bologna’). I’ve previously sampled Piera’s pasta magic at Ladro Greville so she knows her stuff.

olivigna

olivigna

olivigna

Over 2 hours Piera showed us how to make pasta from start to finish, from combining the dough to rolling it to cutting it.

olivigna

olivigna

After our morning’s instruction the kitchen, headed by chef chef Colin Swalwell (ex Yering Station), made our lunch while we were ushered to enjoy our handiwork in the private dining room, a space inspired by a traditional wine cellar/cave.

olivigna

To start we enjoyed some freshly sliced prosciutto and house grown olives and fresh bread from the enormous wood oven accompanied by housemade olive oil (bottled just 3 days before).

olivigna

 

Our feast continued with three different types of pasta – the tortellini we made, pappardelle with traditional napoli sauce and a surprise third dish, the restaurant’s signature Scaliatelli alle Vongole with clams, sweet zucchini and a touch of chilli. Our meal was served with a glass of Olivigna‘s own wine.

olivigna

If you enjoyed your meal you can even take some of it home from the Olivigna food store. There you will find award-winning olive oils, caramelised onion jam and preserves that are all made on site plus the estate’s wines.

olivigna

After your meal have a stroll around the gardens, sit by the open fire pit with a hot toddy or try your hand at the bocce court.

olivigna

Olivigna is such an unexpected find in Melbourne and it truly does bring a sense of Italy to  our city. Get away from the city on a sunny weekend and bask in stunning scenery straight out of Under the Tuscan Sun while dining on fresh, local and home-grown produce from the estate. If you want to get hands-on with your Italian cooking, sign up to one of their masterclasses – a perfect Father’s Day outing or gift perhaps?

Olivigna, 54-56 Brumbys Road, Warrandyte South

Upcoming master classes on desserts, pasta, salami, gourmet sausages. $120-$130 including lunch and a glass of Sangiovese

La Sala Restaurant

Wednesday to Sunday 11:30am – 3:30pm (4:30pm on Sunday)

Wednesday – Saturday 5.30pm – 9.00pm

 
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