Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Grossi Florentino


Introduction: Established almost 80 years ago this is one of Melbournes finest Italian restaurants at Bourke St.
Ambience: The restaurant has a sort of 'old world' atmosphere induced by the wood panelled walls with their antique style lamps.
Service: Seemed to be at two levels an experienced and attentive older group and a young overenthusiastic younger group who went about their duties with a relentless disregard for whatever was happening at the table.
Food: This is largely what I came for and I was not disappointed.
My tripe entree cooked to tender perfection could not have been better. The duck and wild mushroom filled tortellini with duck jus and caeamelised pear also excellent. Unfortunately the dry aged 250 day grain fed Angus beef was sold out and with apologies we ended up with a T bone steak which was extremely ordinary. The other main course tho was superb. The Glenloth pigeon, boned and filled with savoury pork and veal farce, roasted and served with grappa scented jus with white bean puree and scattered white lentils was so good my mouth waters at the thought of it.
Wine: They have a 19 page wine list starting at about $50 a bottle with lots to choose from about $80 a bottle. there is also a modest selection by the glass at about $15.
Comment: Apart from the a' la carte menu, which is due to change shortly, there is a tasting menu "Il Menu del Buongustaio" at $155/head or $225 with selected wines. it looks really good and I'll certainly have it next time if I can
Price: Most entrees are about $38. Mains, except Wagu and the Angus, $48 and desserts about $24. Tea or coffee is $8.
Score: 16/20



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

July 11th

I ate at grossi florentino's and i was bitterly disappointed in the whole experience, from poor wait staff to inedible food. The only decent dish was braised milk fed lamb, this was tasty but was a dish you would expect in a good gastro pub.

I dined with a friend and we decided to try the tasting menu. very bad choice we got to the second course which was poorly cut tuna with dry shaved prociutto, some rotten leaves and what they called an olive oil ice cream, which was so sweet that i could not eat it ( my advice if it is worth anything; do not attempt this type of cooking if you do not know what you are doing). At this point we decided to call it quits and explained to the waiter that we think we had made the wrong choice and would like to have al a cart which was not much better.

I am a chef of 15 years and i have eaten in some of the world best restaurants including fat duck, el bulli, michel bras, pierre gagnaire, tetsuya's, tom aikens, petrus, maze, chateau les crayers and i could keep going but i am sure you get my point. The meal at grossi's would sadly be one of my worst ever meals and i cannot understand how this restaurant has 2 hats.

The menu reads better than it tastes.

Score 8/20

Elliot and Sandra said...

Hi
I wish I'd had the pleasure of eating at all those superb restaurants you mention. Re Grossi I also did not rate it a two hat restaurant but I certainly did not have as bad an experience as you did. I have had bad meals and bad experiences at supposedly good restaurants too but I think one should distinguish between other elements except for the food. What was wrong with the service? Did you also find the venue, the ambiance decor etc 8/20? I'm not a defender of Grossi but for me no way was it that bad, including the food

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I guess 8/20 is pretty harsh but when you compare this restaurant to others in Victoria including royal mail - 17/20, cutler and co - 16/20 and attica -15/20 to name a few i find it hard to give grossi anymore than 8/20.

I found the wait staff nice enough, although they seemed a little nervous when serving food and drinks, which to me shows signs of inexperience. I guess it could of been a bad night. But you don't expect inexperience in a restaurant of this level.

The main problem with the service was the lack of attention to detail, no drinks were offered when we arrived, when the tasting menu matched with wine started to progress food arrived without drinks, obviously not what you would expect with a $265 menu. Other problems with the wait staff include spilling wine while pouring and i don't mean a few drops, reaching in front of guests to pour wine and serve bread. I don't think we need stuffy and pretentious service but i think a bit of professionalism would be nice.

The dining room was nice enough although a little run down, with a little work this could be an amazing space well above 8/20 although they would need improved skill in the kitchen as this was the main reason for going and the main reason for the score.

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