The building at 80 Bourke Street has housed a restaurant in some form since 1928, and the upstairs dining room of Grossi Florentino has occupied its particular position at the apex of Melbourne's Italian dining scene for most of that century. The murals painted on its walls were commissioned in the 1950s and have watched over dinners of consequence ever since. White linen, silver service, a wine list deep in Barolo and Barbaresco — this is a room that understands what a great restaurant is supposed to do to the people inside it, and it does it without apology.
The kitchen operates on the principle that Italian cuisine, at its highest register, is not about complexity but about the absolute quality of the ingredient and the precision of its preparation. Fresh pasta — handmade daily — is the foundation: a tagliatelle al ragù that has been refined over decades, a tortellini in brodo that contains all the lessons of a century of northern Italian cooking. The secondi lean toward the classically grand: veal saltimbocca with sage and prosciutto, whole fish baked in salt crust, a bistecca for two that requires advance ordering. The Gran Tour menu — five courses for approximately AU$200 — is the correct way to experience the kitchen's full range.
The Grossi Florentino building operates on three distinct levels: the Cellar Bar on the ground floor, which offers a more casual Florentine trattoria experience; the Grill on the first floor, which handles wood-fired meats and a broader all-day menu; and the Upstairs, the formal dining room that is the subject of this review. Each functions independently and serves a different purpose, but the Upstairs is where the building's accumulated history expresses itself most fully. Rated 4.7 stars by 662 OpenTable diners — a number that reflects both the consistency of the kitchen and the emotional resonance of the room.
The restaurant has changed ownership since the Grossi family's tenure, moving to the Edition Group, though the team has maintained the standards and character that made Florentino what it is. The Italian wine list, deep in Piedmont and Tuscany with strong representation from smaller producers, is handled by a sommelier team of evident knowledge and genuine enthusiasm for the material.
