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Just Open: Italian multiplex Sagra opens in Malvern

Roslyn Grundy
Roslyn Grundy

The interior at Sagra, Malvern.
The interior at Sagra, Malvern.Supplied

After more than three years' hard work, and a few weeks later than scheduled, Sagra opens in Malvern tonight.

The enormous four-level restaurant, alimentari, coffee bar, art gallery and bar inside a former garage is the realisation of a longheld dream by venture capitalist Ross Chessari.

At ground level, the restaurant will seat 120 around a central bar-kitchen. The menu is a joint production by food and beverage manager Silvana Iacobaccio (ex Pizza e Birra, Ladro) and head chef Leandro Panza, recently of Artusi and Tutto Bene.

Sagra's facade features the original gates.
Sagra's facade features the original gates.Supplied
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Look for things such as bruschetta with tomatoes roasted in the Josper oven and Spanish anchovies, spaghetti carbonara with peppered pancetta and slow-cooked eggs, and dry-aged angus steak with kohlrabi salad.

At the rear of the ground floor, an alimentari (delicatessen) will sell cheese, salumi, housemade antipasti and ready-to-serve meals. Eventually, Chessari, whose family ran grocery stores in Brunswick and Fitzroy North, wants to host cooking classes to mark the seasons: in Italy, a sagra is a local food festival.

Wander upstairs and you'll find the mezzanine art gallery, function space and a top-floor bar with city views.

Caprese salad with Josper roasted heirloom tomatoes, olive oil sorbet, buffalo mozzarella and basil spheres.
Caprese salad with Josper roasted heirloom tomatoes, olive oil sorbet, buffalo mozzarella and basil spheres.Supplied

Doors open at 5pm Thursday. It will be open daily 7.30am-late.

Sagra, 256-258 Glenferrie Road, Malvern, sagra.com.au

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Roslyn GrundyRoslyn Grundy is Good Food's deputy editor and the former editor of The Age Good Food Guide.

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