Overview
Mark Rotolone has spent six years turning Mosconi into a Fortitude Valley institution. Now he has opened its little sibling next door, in the thick of the James Street precinct: Bistro Tino, with tino meaning "little" or "junior" in Italian.
Part coffee and breakfast bar, part wine bar, Tino is built for walk-ins: a standing espresso before work, a table for lunch, a glass of wine with whoever you run into. The kitchen is run by Alfie Cutler under Mosconi head chef Catherine Anders, and the food leans European and home-style.
The all-day list runs to pan con tomate with raw yellowfin tuna and anchovy butter, flatbread with pistachio mortadella, soft egg and tonnato, and Italian sausage with silverbeet and butter beans. From midday there is a bifana roll of pork collar and provolone, chicken Maryland with pea fricassée and panzanella made with yesterday's bread. The counter handles cannoli and the daily torta.
The fitout, by Brisbane studio By Burke, is warm and lived-in: a handmade Tasmanian oak bar trimmed with bronzed brass, ochre leather banquettes, clotted cream and mission brown walls and herringbone parquetry underfoot. A vinyl setup nods to the early 80s.
For now, Tino is open 6.30am–2.30pm, seven days. Spring will bring a private dining room and evening trading, turning it into a true all-day venue. Crucially: dogs are welcome.
Images: Jessie Prince.
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