Valerio Nucci's food makes Italophiles nostalgic with its fine restraint and beautiful flavours. Inside the room is rather function-like (it is only open for functions in the evenings) but outside is a different story. Great views of Yarra Bend park, golf course and a distinct angle on the city. Ample parking. Clientele: Kew matron luncheon parties (someone has to drink the dividends), plus formally dressed executives of both genders escaping the CBD for a long lunch, median length two and a half hours, but service is prompt. Presumably people who couldn't be seen lingering this long in South Yarra and Southbank hangouts.

After lunch some clients inspect the remnants of industrial Collingwood, along with the CUB brewery and the Abbotsford Convent, just over the river. The latter is one of urban Australia's greatest natural and rural vistas. The only famous diners are impoverished heritage architects and members of the Liberal Party who can't afford to be seen to be plotting in Toorak, so they drive over the McRob bridge to the relative anonymity of Studley Park.