EAT > Florentino, Melbourne (15/20)

Florentino is one of Melbourne’s oldest grand restaurants.  At the ‘Paris End’ of Bourke Street (if there is such a thing), the restaurant is the centre piece of Guy Grossi’’s restaurant empire, which includes the Grossi Grill, Cellar Bar and the excellent Cocktail Bar Arlechin. Climb the stairs to a warm welcome on the first floor, with its historic beauty showcased through ornate light fixtures, high ceilings adorned with chandeliers, dark wood tables, tall leather upholstered chairs, and large Italianate murals painted in 1935, 

This is a restaurant for celebrations partially because of the granduer and partially because of the cost (its not cheap).  This is fine dining all the way and while you can choose between the chef’s (degustation selection) and the à la carte menu, most people elect for the chef’s selection ($210 pp) and then there are still plenty of options to lift the experience (for an additional fee), caviar, oysters, cheese course etc.   

DRINKS >

The wine list is extensive with a good range of Australian, French and of course Italian wines on offer and some with reasonable vintage age on the bottles.  The sommelier was young and knowledgable, the wine glass ware is exquisite and the tradition of libation (pouring a little wine into each glass, in theory to clean any dust or detergent and coat the surface) it brings a little theatre and romance to the whole experience.

A little frustrating was the fact that the service of water seemed to get splashed across the table every single time and often on my hand, which was just careless.  There was also a bit of sell job going to order extra courses and an extra bottle of wine, which felt a little unnecessary. 

FOOD > 

The food at Florentino is classic Italian, though the serving portions are generally much smaller than you would get at a similar restaurant in Rome or Milan, this is not a bad thing as you will still leave the restaurant fully sated.

Our meal featured Pacific Oysters served with a Negroni vinaigrette (I didnt taste the Negroni but it was nice), then a starter of tuna, mussels and a broth (delicious).  There was a duck tortellini (very tasty) and then a beef dish (ok).  

The cheese trolley was a highlight and the Gorgonzola was outstanding, finally to finish was a soufflé served with gelato and a sauce.  The recommendation was to mix it all together (I did that but personally think it ruined the experience and spoiled the dish but maybe that was just me) this was pretty but just too sweet and lacked anything to make it stand out.

CONCLUSION >

Overall the food was fine but not entirely memorable, the service was friendly but not outstanding, the wine list extensive but with few bargains, the drinks delivery a little bit sloppy.  It was good but it was not great. For any other restaurant else a score of 15/20 is fine but for Florentino it is not. This a restaurant that routinely gets scores of 17/18 and 19 out of 20.

I have been to Grossi many times over the 35 years that I have lived in Melbourne and always revered it as one of the very best but this time it felt bit tired and a little sad.  Perhaps it was just an off night. But this is a grand dame of Melbourne fine dining that needs to refresh, reinvigorate and find its way back to being top of the game and brilliant again.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Image Credit | Florentino

---