Grossi Florentino (Upstairs) - CBD

For my 25th birthday in September, Quynh took me Grossi Florentino. Hailed as a fine dining institution in Melbourne, we were more than excited to dine here. We got the 6pm reservation and was ushered in upstairs We got the Gran Tour ($180) which was their 6 dish degustation.  

Our menu for the night

Bellini and a strong ass cocktail

Oyster, horseradish, kolralbi

Close-up shot

Our first dish was the oyster, horseradish and kolralbi. It tasted very fresh and briny but perhaps I would've loved a little more acidity in the form of pickled kolralbi. Nonetheless a good start to the meal. It came with some unexpected sides as well.

Russian potato salad

Beautifully presented was the Russian potato salad served in a Cornetto. Such lovely contrasting textures but needed a touch of salt.

Capsicum Crisp & Chicken Sandwiches

There was also a Capsicum crisp which housed artichoke, cucumber and almonds paired with a dainty chicken sandwich. The creamy chicken was scrumptious against the dainty thin wafer holding it together. 

There was also a blob of a dish which was poached veal in a tuna emulsion. This was incredibly flavoursome.

Quite a spread!

We love our bread, we love our butter

Ahh bread and butter. Our favourite course. Always. The sourdough bread was delightfully warm and the smooth silky cured butter was dusted with sage rosemary dust. Did we we have 2 servings of this? Yeah obviously.

White Asparagus & Prosciuto

With our next course, we were given the option to substitute a dish for one of the specials. Such a good option because that means more variety, yay. I got the White Asparagus, Prosciutto and Greens in white sauce. The asparagus were soooo soft and all the flavours worked. I felt that it was a really understated dish that allowed each ingredient to shine. 

Kingfish

Quynh got the Kingfish, Apple, Sorrel, Row, Goat Curd. This was very pretty but quite a small serving compared to mine. The generous sorrel gave the entire dish very herbaceous undertones.

King Prawn

Next was the King Prawn, Banana Shallot, Pantelleria Capers, Pancetta. The prawns were plump and joocy. I really like that crusting. Also no semi-allergic reaction, scorrrrrre.

Straight-up Parmesan

The servers were just casually wheeling around a chunk of parmesan which we could snack on if we preferred. Hell yes! The chunky slices were drizzled with a balsamic reduction. So simple but oh so great. 

Spanner Crab Taglierini

Oh My Goodness. This was the Taglierini di Riso Venere, Spanner Crab, Bottarga. Simply amazing and easily my favourite dish of the night.  The crab was so sweet and plentiful and the flavours were just spot on. Honestly, so good. 

Duck and porcini ravioli

Surprise course that wasn't on the menu! Duck and porcini ravioli with pear. Little bite sized pockets of flavour. i loved how earthy it was. 

Wagyu Rump Cap

Our last main course was the Wagyu Rump Cap, Bitto, Kalette, Mustard Fruit, Bone Marrow. Today I learned that Bitto is an Italian DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) cheese produced in the Valtelline valley in Lombardy. On the day, it was just a cheesy sauce The meat itself was tender and had a nice bite to it. Bone marrow is decadent as always. 

Chocolate Souffle

For dessert we had Chocolate Souffle, Hazelnut, Grains of Paradise. The ice cream had flecks of Szechuan pepper throughout it from what I remember and it gave it such an interesting spicy kick. The souffle itself was super fluffy.

Yay for lil birthday treats. Chocolate bites that well tasted exactly like chocolate. 

Overall, we had a pleasant time at Grossi. The food was quite nice with some really standout dishes. They gave us a nice goodie bag of coffee beans. I really wanted to touch on the service that we encountered. I had scoured the reviews on Grossi before we went and the one common theme I read about was their exceptional service. I don't expect fancy schmancy stuff but if this is what they are known for then I had high hopes Don't get me wrong, we definitely had friendly and very professional servers but there were some things that were odd. It was just small details like not offering to take my jacket, not wheeling the cheese over to us until we got curious and enquired about it or some servers not even cracking a smile when talking to us. Didn't seem the case with other nearby tables. I have noticed this trend with some fine dining restaurants, where because we aren't interested in their wine list or perhaps younger than their usual clientele, that we are not given the same attentiveness as everybody else. It is just a bit disappointing. But whatever, I am glad I have ticked Grossi off my fine dining list. On to the next! 

Taste: 7.5/10

Presentation: 7/10 

Service: 5/10

Value for Money: 7/10