Tiny Italian cafe Oltre brings fresh pasta and panini to Prahran Market

Two Italian-speaking hospitality veterans are bringing a taste of the old country to Oltre, their new panini and pasta cafe at Prahran Market.

Salvatore Ciano is from Gaeta, a small town near Rome: he started as a dishwasher at Fonda Mexican when he arrived in Melbourne nine years ago and worked up to area manager of five restaurants. His business partner, Samir Slimane, grew up in southern Switzerland, near the Italian border. He also assisted in Fonda openings and, along the way, the Italian-speaking pair started to brew some plans.

Together, they've renovated a cafe site with entrances from Commercial Road and the market's deli arcade, turning it into an appealing and atmospheric 20-seat cucina.

At a streetside pasta-making station visible from the footpath, a fancy Italian pasta extruder turns out tagliatelle, and gnocchi is made by hand on the flour-dusted bench. The fresh pasta is available to take home or to sauce and eat in-house.

"For us, it's important to make authentic products," says Ciano. "We stay true to Italian traditions and we don't compromise. If we make carbonara, it's with guanciale. We aren't going to use bacon."

Panini are another focus. "We tried every bakery in Victoria to find the right bread," says Slimane. They settled on the handmade, airy rolls from Italian artisan bakery Pane e Pizzico in Essendon.

The Firenze panino is filled with parmigiano-laced salami, tomato, rocket and lemon; the Palermo is stuffed with eggplant and ricotta.

Open just a week, Oltre is already finding favour. "Yesterday I was really happy because we had four tables occupied by Italians," says Ciano. "One guy said the gnocchi pomodoro was just like in Italy. We welcome everyone with a 'buongiorno' or a 'ciao' – we want people to feel like they are travelling again."

Running their own business is an exciting step for the duo. "We are putting in so many hours but it feels like a game. We are having fun, we can do whatever we want," says Ciano. "When we receive deliveries and it has our names on it, it really feels like something."

Open Tue-Sun 7am-4pm, Sun 9am-4pm, Shop 185, 163 Commercial Road, South Yarra, Instagram: @oltreprahran