Overview
The latest restaurant from Melbourne hospitality stalwart Chris Lucas sets out to envelop you, but in a different way from its siblings: the ever-buzzy Chin Chin or riotous Yakimono. When you enter Grill Americano's lofty 145-seat space on the ground floor of the 101 Collins building, you're welcomed by a plush, Euro-inspired vision of rich blue banquettes, elegant table lamps and waitstaff clad in white jackets.
Opening Monday, March 21, Lucas' new venture is a study in modern elegance, with a steakhouse-style offering of Northern Italian flavours and a name inspired by the Americano cocktail — here, the signature's crafted with a cacao nib vermouth and served with chocolate-dipped mandarin.
Inside, an impressive 14-metre marble bar offers front-row seats to the open kitchen and its pride and joy: a handmade, custom-built woodfired oven imported from Naples and a Josper charcoal grill.
There's a strong sense of old-school hospitality at play here, matched by Head Chef Douglas Keyte's (Brisbane's Hellenika) mighty menu steeped in European sensibilities and hero-ing traditional Italian techniques. Expect elegant tableside finishes aplenty.
Snack fiends and aperitivo aficionados will be all about the cicchetti offering, starring the likes of creamy chicken croquettes, crisp polenta bites and aged parmigiano reggiano served with organic Piemontese chestnut honey. Freshly baked focaccia is teamed with green olive butter, and you'll find a premium lineup of salumi sourced from across the homeland.
There's no skimping on the pasta situation, with Sicilian-native Simone Giorgianni whipping up the restaurant's signature offering fresh each day. Standouts include a saffron tagliolini topped with scampi and a spicy pork sausage rigatoni.
Adrian Landers
Seafood features regularly through the lineup of main plates, although most will find it hard to pass up the selection of steaks, all traditionally finished with a lick of olive oil, lemon and rosemary. Their meaty hero is a hefty 1.2-kilogram Bistecca alla Fiorentina t-bone.
Just don't ditch dessert — Michaela Kang (Bread Club) is at the helm of a showstopping menu of sweet creations that includes a reworked tiramisu and an elegant take on the trifle.
Starring alongside the namesake cocktail, you'll find an expansive, global curation of vino, with a Coravin system to take full advantage of the 2000-strong cellar collection. Meanwhile, a crop of signature cocktails features plenty of Italian influence and subtle twists — try the smoked negroni, or a house bellini fusing white peach and elderflower.
Find Grill Americano at 112 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, from March 21. It'll open from 4pm–late Tuesday and Wednesday, 12pm–late Thursday and Friday, and 4pm–late Saturday.
Images: Adrian Landers