Gavin Green
They had me with the grissini. Slender hand-rolled beauties, perfectly crisp and flavoured with rosemary, garlic and Parmesan, they’re served with artfully dishevelled folds of imported culatello and plump glistening olives stuffed with “caviar Calabrese”, a mix of preserved vegetables delicately heated with chilli. The attention to technique, texture and flavour immediately signals that Florentino’s new owners fully understand the brief.
Florentino has had just six owners since opening on Melbourne’s Bourke Street nearly 100 years ago. It’s so intrinsic to the local dining scene that any change attracts both scrutiny and trepidation. It comes as a relief, then, that the most recent baton change, from the Grossi family to Rebecca Yazbek’s Edition Group (Nomad Sydney and Melbourne, Reine & La Rue), has been a masterclass in both reading the room and enacting subtle change.
The grissini are served in Florentino Dining Room, the grand heritage-listed upstairs flagship with its storied Mural and Wynn Rooms that bring the occasion to even an early week dinner. Changes to the space have been minimal to the point of subliminal – a lick of paint, a darker, moodier approach to the lighting – with the signature inky timber panelling, plush carpet, wrought iron light fittings, storied Italianate murals and well-versed, black-clad floor staff intact and emphasising the seamlessness of the handover.
The menu remains recognisably high-end Italian with chef Brendan Katich also including some classic French elements in the mix by way of bisque-like sauces, classic stocks and parfait to great effect.
A brilliant dish of squid-ink stained fregola topped with admirably tender shaved arrow squid is worth the price of admission alone, topped with preserved lemon, smoked paprika and pink peppercorn seasoning and fresh sorrel leaves. Similarly swoon-worthy is duck-filled cappelletti, the dough shaded slightly with beetroot and with a glossy duck reduction adding depth and punch.
The only wobble comes with the coral trout. Accompanied by crab meat, zucchini and a superb brandy-forward bisque, the fish arrives slightly dry, disappointing for a dish priced at $75.
Still, with an excellent, broad-ranging and, for the setting, surprisingly well-priced wine list and a delightfully complex caramelised banana semifreddo teamed with wood-roasted hazelnuts and fennel-accented butterscotch, the scale emphatically tips in favour of return visits.
The relief of a landmark being in a safe pair of hands is real. Even better, is the well-deserved feeling of excitement about where Florentino might go. Indications suggest a rosy new era for Melbourne’s oldest restaurant.
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