Pellegrini

Mietta's Eating & Drinking in Melbourne 2000

Contributors' Choice
Page 165

Classic Italian espresso bar. Lots of imitators, but not another one just like it in Australia.(Shoot me if I'm wrong). Should be designated Sacred Site. Should be National Trusted, though the owners might not agree, but they only own the place. Sisto Malastina and Nino Pangrazio have achieved a miracle. They have weathered everything that time and the town council has chucked at Melbourne. The painters and lovers Joy Hester and Albert Tucker routinely roosted here, elbows on bar after late night jazz at Australia Hotel . The Australia disappeared and so did Joy Hester, but not the bar at Pellegrini. Absolutely nothing has changed, not the menu, not the furnishings, not the staff, not the copper lettering on the rustic wooden menu board hanging from the ceiling. You eat and drink what they cook every week of their lives. Gnocchi on Friday, granita all the time. Back in the 50s I was transfixed by the ice cream cake that looked like it was constructed by the same people who laid the floor. Even the floor is a major cultural event. Crack their code and you get Melbourne.

66 Bourke Street
Melbourne
Italian Cuisine
Melways reference 1B:T5
Phone: 9662 1885
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 8am-11.30pm, Sun 12 noon-8.30pm
Accepts credit cards
Seats Inside: 50,
Closed: Some public holidays
Features: Kids encouraged
Favourites: Gnocchi (Fri only) $9.50, Apple strudel $3, Granita $2.20, Coffee $2.20

*An updated review can be found click here .