Grossi family go mass market

It's going to be a busy year for Guy Grossi and his family's empire.

In late March, along with running Melbourne's third annual Tomato Festival (March 19, melbournetomatofestival.com), which expands this year to All Nations Park in Northcote and will feature masterclasses, food stalls, and grape stomping, they're also due to open their Mornane Place wine bar. And now they have announced plans to enter the high-end fast food fray with Pezzo.

Loosely based on a Roman street food, a pezzo (meaning "a piece") is a 48-hour fermented pizza dough pocket. These have been a popular lunch feature at their Bourke Street salumi bar, Ombra for the last year.

Filled with the likes of meatballs, porchetta or calamari, they will be served alongside a few salads, snacks and ice-cream sandwiches, plus beer and wine. A flagship CBD store is planned for late 2017, and should the model be successful, further Pezzos will follow. Follow @pezzomelbourne.