Grossi Florentino

I’ve experienced some fine dining around Melbourne but I have to say Grossi Florentino Upstairs fell well short of expectations. I had the 5 course degustation ‘Gran Tour’ dinner menu which included the Yellowfin Tuna (not bad but tuna felt drowned out), Scallops (also not bad but lacked punch), egg yolk ravioli (bit too doughy and I’m quite sick of the half-​cooked yolk a lot of fine dining restaurants have been doing these days), another pasta dish which was quite nice, suckling pig (meat was a bit plain and dry) and finally the chocolate soufflé (which was the highlight, although Vue De Monde’s is much better).
Overall I felt let down that this place was regarded as a 2-​hat restaurant in the recent good food guide. Perhaps the a la carte menu has better options but so far I’m not a fan.

Best Italian restaurant i’ve ever been to serving authentic traditional italian dishes. It’s fancy and pricey but you get what you pay for. Very worth it in my opinion. Flavours on point and servers are very friendly and helpful. Great for lunch of dinner

From the street, I stepped down into the dining room. The tables were close together and the waiters were busily tending to patrons. I was seated soon after at a table for two along the wall opposite the open kitchen — presumably, the grill. I ordered an Aperol spritz for apertivo to start.
Entrée
We decided to share two entrees, the anchovy stuffed zucchini flowers ($ 26) and the special for the night, the prosciutto, figs and balsamic ($ 28).
Both entrees were fabulous. The only problem with the zucchini flowers is that there weren’t enough of them! They were gorgeous — crisp light batter and stuffed with gooey mozzarella and the salty anchovy. Heavenly. Figs and prosciutto should just marry each other because they work so well. The sweet juicy plump figs with the salty delicate prosciutto that melted on my tongue, was divine.
Main
For main, we shared a huge 600g Black Angus T-​bone steak ($ 52), cooked medium rare. I’m so glad we shared, it was a massive piece of meat.
The waiter presented us the steak first, then whisked it away and sliced it up for us to share — genius! The meat was charred just slightly on the outside and succulent and tender on the inside. It was a lovely steak, but — and I’m sorry Mr Grossi — it did not measure up to the Bistecca Fiorentina we had in Florence. In Florence and Tuscany, a special breed of beef is pasture-​raised for bistecca fiorentna. For that reason, I expect it’s not fair to compare the two.
For contorni (side dishes — all $ 12) were green beans with tomato and roast potatoes with rosemary and garlic — both delicious.
Dessert
Still reading? This is where it gets good…
After a query from my dining companion, the waitress said, «The chocolate pudding is good, but the tiramisu is amazing.»
Yeah, right. My tiramisu is amazing.
«No, truly, this tiramisu is fabulous, it’s really popular.»
Popular? Sure, whatever. Popular doesn’t cut it with me. Ordering tiramisu out has resulted in disappointment after disappointment in establishments across the globe — mainly because my version is so delicious!
My first spoonful evoked an intense reaction. The creamy layers were smooth and luscious, there was a taste of coffee, but it wasn’t overpowering, almost a hint, and then the taste of rich bitter dark chocolate came through just after the coffee. Oh. My. God. I took a second taste just to be sure. Yes. I have found a tiramisu that’s better than mine. I never thought it would or could happen. It was out of this world and definitely 100 per cent worth every calorie. Seriously good — and so good in fact I would say that it’s worth going to Florentina for the Tiramisu alone.

Grossi Florentino. I usually go with the Michelin guide for 3* rated restaurants when I travel overseas. However, there is no Michelin rated restaurants in all of Australia so I had to be creative on finding all the best restaurants (i.e., Gourmet Traveler, the World’s 50 best, and numerous of other lists). Grossi Florentino is considered one of the best restaurants in Melbourne for 2014 per the Gourmet Traveler and numerous other lists. I would like to thank big brother Google for those list.
It’s located in Downtown Melbourne. There are two floors to Grossi Florentino. The grill is on the first floor and the Italian meals are on the 2^nd floor. The décor on the 2^nd floor is very vintage Italian and totally reminded me of scenes from the Godfather. «I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse»
Anyway, this was my first meal in Aussie and I was starving coming off a 15 hour flight. I decided to go with their Gran Tour menu aka Tasting Menu. It was a 5 course tasting menu and it included a few amuse bouche.
1) Yellowfin Tuna — The Yellowfin had Garum Dressing, Shaved Fennel, Apple, Charred Leek, Prosciutto di Parma Fratelli Galloni, and Jerusalem Artichoke Crisps. Yes that was a crap load of ingredients in one dish. Overall, the dish was good but the fish wasn’t the freshest. It didn’t melt in my mouth and the texture of the fish wasn’t as silky as your mom’s lingerie. OH SNAPS!
2) Fremantle Octopus — This dish was a tomato based dish. It had pizzaiola, Tomato, Capers, Olives, and Lupin. I didn’t think the tomato based sauce mesh very well with the Octopus. The Octupus was bit over cooked and too gamy. It was totally like Ursula from the Little Mermaid. A little too much.
3) Ravioli All’Uovo — It was an Egg Yolk, Smoked Ricotta, Butter, Sage, Amoretti, and Aged Balsamic. I thought this was pretty good and full of flavor. The Egg Yolk and Aged Balsamic was a nice touch to the Smoked Ricotta. Only drawback was that it was only one bite! Come on now! I’m a fat ass so what makes you think this was fulfilling for me?!?
4) Suckling Pig — This was Mustardela, Tasmanian Pepper, Eggplant Purée, Myrtle, Onion Marmalade, and Apple Cider. This was my favorite dish out of the 5. The skin of the pig was crispy like Vietnamese Roasted Pork. The was perfectly cooked and the peppers was a great way to add a dash of flavor. It’s kind of like when Public Enemy decided to have a hype man wearing a big clock around his neck.
5) Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé — This was Malt Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce, and Hazelnut Praline. I’m not a big sweets person but I thoroughly enjoyed this dessert. It wasn’t too sweet and tasted more on the coffee side. Plus, it didn’t feel like I was going to get diabetes.
The service was amazing and our drinks were never empty. Our waitress had a French accent. It was totally hot and I noticed myself speaking with a French accent. Yes, we Americans are pretty obnoxious. Maybe I thought the service was amazing cause of the waitress. Hmmm…
Overall, it’s a definitely a must try whenever you’re in Melbourne. Is it the best tasting menu I’ve had? I don’t think so. The only thing I ask you to do is to keep your eyes off my girl.

Having dined at the Grill a few times I finally managed to get a table at Florentino Upstairs, the fine dining experience from Guy Grossi.
After traversing a narrow staircase one arrives in the main dining room which is a rectangular hall of sorts adorned with 16^th century Renascence murals. At this point the exceptional wait service was already noticeable with every waiter and waitress walking by greeting me before the maitre d came over. After being seated and ordering, the usual bread with house olive oil, house churned butter and the strangely tasty beef butter arrived along with a selection of amuse bouche-​style nibbles came out.
The wine list is rather impressive, consisting of a book of nearly 30 pages. I opted for a personalised wine pairing, revolving around international reds. The sommelier, who I later found out was in his first working there (kudos!), did an excellent job at recommending wines that fitted my taste and matched the dishes.
As the main dishes came out each waiter and waitress explained each intricate component of the dish and in some cases added something, like the sauce, to complete the dish.
Excellent food, excellent service, would happily dine again and part with another $ 200 on myself.

So far I have been to Grossi Florentino 3 times and each time was fantastic.
The first time was preparing for our wedding reception. We wanted intimate dining for 12 of our closest. We had a degustation and the food was excellent, waiters were attentive without being intrusive and we enjoyed the wine. It was also comfortably the best of several restaurants we trialled.
The second time was our wedding reception. They opened earlier than would normally be the case so that my grandmother would not be kept up too late and we were able to do speeches and the like without disturbing other guests. Guy Rossi greeted us as we arrived. The food was excellent and the wine simply blew my mind.
The story I like to tell though is that my extremely young nephew was with us and at one stage he got a little over excited and tipped his spaghetti on the floor. The only reason I was aware of this is that I happened to look in the right direction at the right time to see a waiter who had picked up the spilled spaghetti silver service style and was carrying it back to the kitchen as though to serve. We caused a mess and they dealt with it no muss, no fuss. Very classy.
The third time was on our first wedding anniversary. They remembered us, they knew what we’d had for the wedding, we got a card and some gifts from the restaurant without making a big thing of it.
The food has always been very very good (although the reception was comfortably the best of the three visits). The wines are superb ever time, and there are very few places I’ve found in Australia that do excellent waiting, this is one.
Definitely worth the effort.

I had brunch here on Saturday morning. I sat outside on the sidewalk have brunch al fresco. I loved sipping a cup of coffee while watching Melbourne pass by at a different pace than I was on. I had the polenta with Roquefort and rocket. It was splendid, although a little on the small side for the price. I still haven’t got comfortable with the prices of food in Melbourne. But the wait staff were extremely friendly and efficient. Kick back and enjoy the atmosphere on the upper end of Bourke.

Went for coffee and desert last night night enjoyed both tried a crème caramel probably the best I have tried

I dined at The Grill section of Grossi. The service was the downside of this restaurant. They were obviously understaffed for a booked out Saturday night, with the waiters spending more time carting food to Upstairs than on our floor. The waitresses dumped food onto our tables, with no eye contact or a smile (probably because they were so swamped). There was one waiter who was still courteous and pleasant under the circumstances.
The food was decent. Sad to say though that the bruschetta was the best dish we ordered. The pasta was salty, and the bread rolls were solid, and no gluten bite to them. It took 20 minutes for our plates to be cleared, another 20 for coffees to arrive (would have ordered dessert, and an extra glass of wine, but with the service would have taken another hour). Water glass was empty for most of the meal. Lady on the next table ordered an affogatto, and only got cream when it arrived.
I wouldn’t recommend it for the pricing they were charging. On a positive note, Grossi Florentino himself was rushing around which is great to see a chef work in their own restaurant!

Making my way through the menu at cellar bar (next to Grossi). Unfortunately I think I started with the best: lasagne, followed by pumpkin tortellini. Tonight: mussels. Good but the pastas are far better. Great ambience, love the waiters in waistcoats.

I’ve never been here for dinner, and I’ve only ever heard great things about it.
What I CAN tell you is that as far as breakfast /​brunch is concerned… avoid it like the plague. Meals are cold and delivered haphazardly with sides showing up after your actual meal as long been finished. The coffee too was substandard.
Stick to lunch and dinner.

Grossi Florentino is a very swank Italian restaurant that serves high quality produce in a traditional Italian style. The flavours are quite simple, but the food is impeccably cooked. Last time I went, I ordered the suckling lamb, which was delicious.
The service is very good. The almost entirely male wait staff (who all appear to be European, if not Italian) know the menu inside and out, and exude some real class. Everything about the service seems effortless and rehearsed to the Nth degree.
I’ve only been to Grossi for a couple of work-​related events, which I thankfully haven’t had to pay for myself, but the menu is quite pricey so be warned.

Most people think of Grossi Florentino as high-​end Italian, but it’s entirely possible to afford a great plate of pasta or lasagne from the side Cellar Bar (ie. not in the main white-​tabled restaurant) and the quality of the food makes it a worthwhile venture. Getting a table inside the Cellar Bar can be difficult, but if it’s a nice evening outside, sitting under the umbrellas on the tables out the front is much nicer anyway. Last time I went, I had a bowl of gnocchi with creamy gorgonzola for $ 18. It was simple but SO tasty and the serving size was perfect — it looked on the small side when it arrived but the bowl was deceiving and I was well and truly full once I’d finished. I also had a glass of wine for $ 9, but it’s possible to spend up big on wine and the wine list is HUGE. Lots of interstaters also know about Grossi Florentino so if you’ve got visitors the Cellar Bar is a good place to take them without having to be scared of the prices.

I made a reservation at Grossi Florentino expecting something amazing. I’ve heard great things about the place — yes, it is on the pricier side, but worth it. Well was it worth it? Maybe.
Grossi Florentino is actually three separate dining experience — restaurant, grill, and cellar bar. My experience was in the restaurant. White table cloth, impeccable dressed servers, and professional atmosphere, Grossi Florentino exudes fine dining. If you’re prepared to have a 2 hour dinner most of which is waiting for your food, then give it a go. I wasn’t prepared for that.
I ordered the tuna carpaccio ($ 22) for my entrée and duck and mushroom ravioli ($ 39) for my main. Both were delicious dishes, but I’ve had dishes that were just as good and at the same calibre for less. However, the wine was fantastic — a half bottle of chianti classico. I love a restaurant that gives you a half bottle option because you can try expensive bottles at half the cost. It may not sound completely reasonable, but it makes sense in my head.
Although I got some of things I expected from an establishment like Grossi Florentino, it was the wait that killed me. It took two hours to have an entrée and a main — if I was having a 5 course meal, I’d expect that sort of timing.
Currently, I’m sitting on the fence. I want to like Grossi, but there are so many restaurants on par with Grossi that I might have to wait to give it another try.

Grossi’s is a bit of a Melbourne institution, and deservedly so. The establishment is divided into three parts: the restaurant, the grill and the cellar bar. If was a rich man, da da da da da da… you know the rest, but no, I don’t have all the money in the world so I’ll only be able to share my experience of the cellar bar and not the higher end restaurant or grill. Needless to say, I’m sure they are truly amazing, but I’ve yet to find out.
The cellar bar, however, is for the common people. Common people, like me (I really want to, but I won’t start quoting Jarvis). It’s for anybody really, anybody who enjoys the energy of the Bourke Hill precinct and wants to savour it over a mouth-​watering array of Italian dishes and a good drop. It’s really quite romantic in the evening, sitting outside by the old-​school, glamorous shop front, nibbling away at salted cod croquettes and a perfectly matched sauvignon blanc. I think I’ve now tried about half the cellar bar menu and I’ve never been disappointed.
This is one of Melbourne’s quintessential dining experiences and therefore not to be missed. Treat yourself and a loved one to an evening here, and then come back again and again as often as you can.

A landmark on the Melbournian landscape Grossi Florentino is the upstairs fine dining restaurant of the Guy Grossi Empire.
A stairway leads to a beautiful dining room with paintings and stunning furnishings that evoke a mood of luxury. This is easily matched by the dining experience.
The food at Grossi is a simply magnificent.
Whether you opt for the degustation or choose a few courses from the a la carte menu you can be sure to receive Italian flavours and interesting ingredients made to perfection.
Lobster ravioli, spanner crab with black walnut crumble and roasted pidgeon are some of the best from the a la carte menu. But you really can’t put a foot wrong with any of the dishes.
Grossi Florentino also boasts an extensive wine selection featuring some spectacular regional Italian wines. You can tour Italy through the wine, be sure to stop off in Campania or Tuscany.
Service is flawless and staff are delightful and on top of everything from the moment you enter the dining room to the point where you leave.
Friendly, confident and unintruding they will take good care of you while you are in Grossi’s home.
All that you have to do is work your way through the menu and decide. That’s hard enough.