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Cafe Di Stasio

Italy meets Melbourne club... Cafe Di Stasio.
Italy meets Melbourne club... Cafe Di Stasio.Supplied

Good Food hatGood Food hat16/20

Italian$$$

Dining at Di Stasio can feel deliciously like being on the Oscar-winning, sparkling Italian movie set of The Great Beauty. White-jacketed waiters, fashionable clientele, linen tablecloths, an expansive wine list and owner Ronnie’s big personality add up to laughter, enjoyment and that favourite word of restaurateurs: regulars. They return for legendary crayfish omelette in seafood bisque; they feel special as a rich sauce is poured at the table over generous servings of roast duckling alongside spaetzle. Most dishes are deliberately rustic but Di Stasio also does refined, such as elegant millefoglie of cream and caramelised apple sweetly layered under a thin pastry roof. Yet newbies, especially, can feel like mere movie extras if the menu’s slow to arrive, water’s not topped up, and service seems aimed elsewhere. For – as with the featured Henson photograph – there’s sometimes shade amid the sparkle. Even so, after 25 years, Di Stasio at its best remains gloriously, beautifully Italian.

And … Try the bar next door for a funkier feel, a drawcard for the next generation of Di Stasio faithful.

THE LOW-DOWN
Vibe Italy meets Melbourne club.
Best bit Ronnie Di Stasio’s hands sculpted on the doors.
Worst bit Some find the experience can feel fickle.

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