Rosetta

Sophisticated, sexy and oozing old-school movie-star class, Neil Perry's bella signora may be the most glamorous girl to arrive in Melbourne since Ava Gardner touched down in 1959. Clad in marble, mahogany and glittering Murano chandeliers, Rosetta could be anywhere in the world - the Lido in Venice, a grand hotel in Monte Carlo, or, if you're lounging on wicker chairs on the riverfront terrace, a Palm Springs resort circa 1960. Inside the high-ceilinged, glass-walled box it's all velvet banquettes and wide leather chairs, damask and crystal, and attentive, charm-school waiters in sharp white jackets. The long menu leans to house-made pasta, wood-oven roasts and generous platefuls. A nest of tender, garlicky taglierini neri is zesty with lemon, topped with picked spanner crab. Quarters of wood-roasted partridge are pink-fleshed and smoky; ossobuco is cooked to near-melting in vermentino. Let the credits roll with voluptuous zuppa inglese served in a petite, old-fashioned champagne coupe.