(degusted 3rd June, 2011)
At Grossi’s I was completely satisfied, was comfortable, I felt ‘at home’, had a great sampling of fine food, and most importantly, I went home happy.
Off to a good start..
The change in the demeanor of the front of house staff was palpable when I said we had a booking for the restaurant (rather than just coming in for the bar or grill). “Oh yes, excellent sir”, and we were promptly and ever-so politely led upstairs to the glamorous Italian dining room. The wood panelling, dreamy murals and old-world charm of the restaurant made me feel warm and cosy – terrific for a cold Melbourne night. Some might call it “romantic” if that is your thing...
The first thing I noticed with the wait staff and service was of more down-to-earth approach, especially compared to the service I got at (for example) Vue de Monde, and even at Jaques Reymond. I felt a lot more relaxed here at Grossi’s – because of the way the waiters interacted with us; I don’t know exactly why or what they specifically did differently (because the service was still 1st class), but I just felt really comfortable here. Perhaps it was the occasional words of Italian (spoken unpretentiously and in good spirit), or the homely feel of the complimentary breads, with oil, butter and olives on the table. Nice.
Degustation? Yes, and more!
The degustation menu reads like a list of Mediterranean favourites - Octopus, artichokes, calamari, Ox tail agnolotti – the list goes on. One item not on the 8-course list was the much blogged about “Suckling lamb with roasted capsicum”– so we ordered that in addition to the standard list, and it slotted into the line-up really well. (Good service here - the waitress was really helpful with this - and would have happily let us substitute this Lamb dish for one of the other dishes, but since we wanted to add it in; she arranged for an appropriately sized serve for us to share).
Without going into too much detail about each and every of the nine courses, let me summarise (more detail below). My overall impression was of a number of traditional dishes – all done really well – with a few interesting bits and pieces. There was nothing remarkable or flashy in terms of revolutionary ideas about these dishes – there was no fancy “foam” or “coffee soil” or other extravagances of this ilk, just good, solid morsels for tasting. Some might think these dishes are a bit too heavy for a degustation – and if I was eating this on a hot summer’s night I would agree – however I really enjoyed this tasting on this occasion. Important to note that I felt quite full when I left, and it takes a fair feed for me to be full!
A brief word on cost..
For the 8-course degustation, you’ll get a fiver change out of $200 per person, and you need another $75 each for the matched wines to be provided. Ordering additional courses (as we did) will add the menu price of the item, in our case around $40. With drinks and extras, expect to easily drop half a grand on a full degustation for two (there are shorter, 5-course options to fit smaller budgets). For most, that sort of expenditure will only be on very special occasions, and for many it might be a once in a lifetime experience. If you’re looking for somewhere to be blown away by a whole new food experience (and you’re only going to do it once, and the quantity of food does not bother you) then for me, that happened at Vue De Monde. At Grossi’s though, I was completely satisfied, was comfortable and felt ‘at home’, had a great sampling of fine food, and most importantly I went home happy.
For the 8-course degustation, you’ll get a fiver change out of $200 per person, and you need another $75 each for the matched wines to be provided. Ordering additional courses (as we did) will add the menu price of the item, in our case around $40. With drinks and extras, expect to easily drop half a grand on a full degustation for two (there are shorter, 5-course options to fit smaller budgets). For most, that sort of expenditure will only be on very special occasions, and for many it might be a once in a lifetime experience. If you’re looking for somewhere to be blown away by a whole new food experience (and you’re only going to do it once, and the quantity of food does not bother you) then for me, that happened at Vue De Monde. At Grossi’s though, I was completely satisfied, was comfortable and felt ‘at home’, had a great sampling of fine food, and most importantly I went home happy.
Let the tasting begin!
Next, Local globe artichokes. The artichokes were the dish I looked forward to the least, but which surprised me the most. These were really tasty, with the mint and pumpkin the flavours were nicely balanced too.
The Calamari with baccalà pea filling came next - another seafood dish – exquisitely cooked, and the first mouthful induced that “roll your eyes into the back of your head with enjoyment” reaction and you wished there was a bigger serving..
Ox tail filled agnolotti, vegetables, rich ox tail broth.
The agnolotti were truly al dente (as you would expect), and I would have loved to sit down to a huge plate of these morsels. The broth was key here - indeed rich, but also very clear and not salty. With similar flavours as the agnolotti contents, it held the whole dish together in terms of flavour intensity – the agnolotti alone would otherwise have been a bit bland.
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| Pigeon two ways - roasted breast, and leg ravioli |
Pigeon two ways: roasted breast, and leg ravioli. It’s the fiddly little birds that often taste the best. Provided with finger-washing bowl and lemon to encourage us to get in there and use the fingers. The sweet beetroot flavour was really nice in this dish.
Suckling Lamb with roast capsicum. Was very glad to have ordered this dish. It would be a cracker of a “comfort food” dish to try and replicate at home. In this case, the rich lamb was stewed so that it was almost falling apart – and the capsicum (served separately but simultaneously so you could adjust the ratios as needed!) provided the level of sweetness and change of texture needed lift to the dish. Service was impeccable, with the waiter expertly and patiently using a pair of spoons to deliver equal portions to each of our plates from the small serving bowl.
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| Wagyu rump dish. Pickled veal tongue hiding under the exquisite rump.. |
Slow cooked Wagyu rump cap, pickled veal tongue, shallot and potato “saltate”, fennel and rosemary praline, salsa verde. The wagyu rump was tender and delicious – absolute perfection in terms of colouring and cooking – uniformly seared around the outside, and an admirable level of consistency of colour across the span of each slice of beef. Hiding under the super-tender Wagyu was a small piece of (relatively) much firmer veal tongue. It’s an interesting addition and I loved the fact it was in there (purely from a degusting point of view), but for me it was excessive; I could happily have gone without it, or probably would have been more impressed had the two meats been presented separately in different, contrasting styles (eg: the soft rump with a firm accompaniment, and the firmer tongue with a soft accompaniment – Yin & Yang style). But hey, I just eat the stuff - I’ll leave the food ideas and preparation to the chefs who already have multiple hats..
The humble menu item of “cheese and grapes” to me sounded like I’d be getting a small platter of the aforementioned ingredients. How wrong I was. This was truly a completely unexpected and complex dish of what I can only describe as a kind of stew of skinned grapes – it looked and tasted much better than this vague description. It was like an iron chef’s re-interpretation of a cheese and grape platter. After the pleasantly surprising artichoke dish, this was a real surprise.
Valrhona chocolate soufflé, malt ice cream and chocolate sauce. Okay – I’d go back for this. So puffy, light, delicate. It was not by any means rich, but with the chocolate sauce on the side, you can wind up the “chocolatelyness” if you prefer (and I did). A good cocoa flavour, light intensity and not too sweet: just as well because a thick and rich desert after this long degustation would have been excessive. I don’t know if it’s snobbery or whether the Valrhona chocolate really is much better than other similar offerings – however the thought of getting chocolate imported from France (Hermitage area) for this dish made the soufflé experience feel extra special: if it was a placebo effect, let it be so!
The humble menu item of “cheese and grapes” to me sounded like I’d be getting a small platter of the aforementioned ingredients. How wrong I was. This was truly a completely unexpected and complex dish of what I can only describe as a kind of stew of skinned grapes – it looked and tasted much better than this vague description. It was like an iron chef’s re-interpretation of a cheese and grape platter. After the pleasantly surprising artichoke dish, this was a real surprise.
Valrhona chocolate soufflé, malt ice cream and chocolate sauce. Okay – I’d go back for this. So puffy, light, delicate. It was not by any means rich, but with the chocolate sauce on the side, you can wind up the “chocolatelyness” if you prefer (and I did). A good cocoa flavour, light intensity and not too sweet: just as well because a thick and rich desert after this long degustation would have been excessive. I don’t know if it’s snobbery or whether the Valrhona chocolate really is much better than other similar offerings – however the thought of getting chocolate imported from France (Hermitage area) for this dish made the soufflé experience feel extra special: if it was a placebo effect, let it be so!
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| Chocolate Souffle, malt ice-cream and Valrhona chocolate sauce |
I only had one, not four.
A choice of petit fours included macarons, nougat, or chocolate brownie. Nice enough to have with my espresso, but I was full by this stage, and really did not need it.
Drinks
A browse through the wine list is impressive, and makes the wine-matched option for the degustation appear to be a good value option. With drink-drive laws however, we didn’t go for the matched wines (but would recommend it, on paper it looks good).
Espresso – was good, as you would expect from an Italian restaurant and café in Melbourne. Perhaps a fraction watery for my taste, but I’m not the average coffee drinker (like it strong and syrupy). Affogato was promptly delivered with the ice-cream and espresso kept separate for maintenance of ice-cream integrity and the pleasure of personal pouring.. Nice.
Beer – I had Guy Grossi’s own brand of beer, which unfortunately I cannot recall its full details. Suffice to say that it was good – not too overpowering (so I think it was an Ale). Perhaps the Grossi’s will read this blog and let me know!?
Rating: NomNomNom!
Meh It’ll Do Nom(x3) Must go back!
Done and Degusted @ Grossi Florentino
-Fremantle octopus, young vegetable “giardiniera”, goat’s cheese croquette, Ortiz anchovies
-Local globe artichokes, Lemon, garlic, mint, Parmesan, slow cooked, pumpkin “caponata” & pumpkin jus
-Calamari, baccalà pea filling, lemon, marjoram, pea shoots, onion cream
-Ox tail filled agnolotti, Vegetables, rich ox tail broth
-Glenloth pigeon, roasted breast, spinach puree, marsala, cardamom and liquorice powder, beetroot, couscous
-“Suckling lamb with roasted capsicum” (additional item purchased separately, but incorporated into the degustation)
-Slow cooked Wagyu rump cap, pickled veal tongue, shallot and potato “saltate”, fennel and rosemary praline, salsa verde
-Cheese and grapes
-Valrhona chocolate soufflé, malt ice cream and chocolate sauce
-Espresso and Affogato
-Petits Fours (nougat and chocolate brownie)
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