Bet you've never had steak and pepper sauce like this before, Melbourne
Gambino is a huge deal for Glen Waverley, a south-eastern suburb rich in eating options but not so great for a Big Night Out. When this two-level venue opened last December, it instantly became the area's fanciest Italian place and its most glamorous rooftop, giving locals a reason to ditch the city or South Yarra for a full, fun evening closer to home: aperitivo, dinner and kick-ons all in one venue.
At the station end of the Kingsway eating strip, a glass lift spills you into the fifth-floor restaurant, a chic, sleek, blue-velvet cave with lamp-lit tables. Could-be-anywhere views to the eastern hills are especially transporting from the semi-private lounge that's strung with fake but fab lemon branches.
If the 90-seat restaurant is Milan, the sixth-floor rooftop is Capri, with accents in sunny yellow. Heaters and shutters do their darnedest to turn Melbourne winter into Euro summer, gamely assisted by spicy prawn pizza and cocktails like the 'strawgroni' with gin, berry-infused Campari and chocolate bitters. Unfortunately, there's no wheelchair access to the roof.
The restaurant's smart menu allows you to steer casual or fine dining, with seasoned waiters helming the floor. Chef Adrian Li – also a partner in Armadale's Zia Rina's Cucina – became known at city hotel-diner La Madonna for his quirky spin on Caprese salad.
He reprises it here: a whole tomato is deep-fried so the skin slips off cleanly. The scalped sphere is infused with soy sauce, stuffed with stracciatella cheese and served in a pool of basil oil, ready to ooze curds when cut. The drama is undeniable, but the fandangling makes me hanker for the original. I'd rather wait for summer and eat a sun-drenched one.
The theatre curtain goes up again for eye fillet topped with a sturdy raviolo that releases 100 millilitres of mushroom sauce when pierced. This is a tricky dish and it pays off in spectacle, the flavoursome sauce pooling perfectly onto the plate.
To make it, mushroom gravy is set with gelatin in a pasta parcel, ready to liquefy when simmered. Finessing the pasta thickness and filling consistency was so challenging that when Li nailed it, he nearly fell down the stairs running to announce his success.
This is a tricky dish and it pays off in spectacle, the flavoursome sauce pooling perfectly onto the plate.
I'd probably take a tumble if I invented the excellent bombe Alaska. The sweetness of the meringue casing and sponge base is offset by a lemon-sorbet core and a semifreddo layer infused with finger lime. Flambeed at the table, it's a spiky ball of joy.
It's not all bells and whistles. The crescentina, a fried-dough sandwich from Modena in northern Italy, is pure, button-pushing delight. Little pucks of pizza dough are filled with crisped mortadella, smoked mozzarella and pickled green tomato.
A crudo of ruby-red tuna is overlaid with spice-cured prawns, the textures sublime but the chilli whack slightly overwhelming the lovely seafood.
Tortellini are filled with chive-spiked goat's curd and settled in a buttery emulsion with roasted pumpkin and parmesan cream, a vegetarian dish that's classic and refined.
Everyone involved has a stake in the neighbourhood – and it shows. Two owners, Garen Maskal and Aret Arzadian, have Latin American The Black Toro, which has just clocked up 13 years on Kingsway. Their business partner here is Craig Lane, a longtime hairdresser in the 'hood and owner of several nearby eateries. Chef Li grew up down the road and is keen to see the area thrive. Gambino is an optimistic outreach to locals: spend close to home and be rewarded with class and generosity.
Good Food Guide.
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