Umberto Espresso Bar opens summer pop-up bar Pezzo in its original site

The team behind Thornbury's Umberto Espresso Bar has opened a pop-up wine shop and snack bar, Pezzo (say 'pet-zo'). It will be open until Christmas in the tiny original Umberto space, a one minute walk south on High Street.

"We are reactivating the space where we served a lot of pasta and espresso for 13 years," says owner Marco Finanzio, who credits his employee Sav Martino with the idea for the pop-up. "When a staff member comes to you with a great idea, you can't shut it down."

Snacking is simple, rustic and cutlery-free, while wines are low-intervention Italian drops. House-made focaccia will be topped with mortadella mousse or whipped baccala. The team are also making a free-range pork lardo spread, infused with black garlic and rosemary. "It's really clean, beautiful and silky, and goes well with orange or chilled red wine."

Next year, Finanzio plans to flip Pezzo into a pasta fresca retail store with contemporary Italian drinks. Yet to be named, it's a partnership with chef Shery Singh, who has been with the business from the beginning.

"He is from Punjab and I see so many parallels to the migrant story of my father when he came to Australia from Italy," says Finanzio. "He deserves his next chance. I feel like it's a responsibility of mine to continue that migrant story."

Singh and Finanzio recently took a pasta discovery trip to Italy. "We learnt secrets and benchmarked ourselves: we feel like we know what we are doing." The new store will use local ingredients, including durum grown and milled in Tamworth.

But for now, Pezzo is another way to enjoy the Umberto hospitality. A collaboration with wine importers QuelVino, its shelves feature fresh producers using indigenous Italian grapes in exciting ways, with every bottle available to drink there or take home. "We're trying to champion Lambrusco, which is strong in Emilia-Romagna but yet to break out in Melbourne."

If there's one wine to look out for, Finanzio recommends the Il Farneto Frisant Bianco 2020 from Emilia-Romagna. "The grape is Spergola [and the wine is] organic, with a native yeast ferment and a second ferment in the bottle to create natural bubbles," he says. "It's a wonderful intro to natural pet-nat that's awesome with food."

Open Fri-Sat 3pm-9pm until Christmas (extended hours pending demand).

822 High Street, Thornbury, umbertogroup.com.au