Sometimes, you've got to put the green juice down and dive right into a very large plate of carbs. You can't deny how good that feels in the moment; it's all about taste, the quality of the forkful of pasta going into your mouth and all the butter or sauce bringing it to life. And Tipo 00 understands this.
Named in a nod to the traditional flour used to make pizza and pasta, the Italian restaurant in Melbourne sure knows a thing or two about the gig. Tipo 00 is built a whole pasta bar around the idea of sitting down to a top-notch, memorable bowl of the stuff, where quality, care and fresh produce are far more important than what it might do to your waistline. Don't think of it as a problem for future you. Current you will be very, very happy.
Of course, there are some excellent things that come before the pasta at here. Open decadently with plates like stracciatella with radicchio and saffron, chargrilled king prawn with olive crumb or perhaps the grilled ox tongue with balsamic and pink peppercorn. Salumi rotates through a daily-changing chef's selection.
But for the main event, there's no denying you're in especially good hands. For perfectly-executed simplicity, go with the likes of pumpkin tortilla with amaretti crumb, prawn spaghettini finished with anchovies and broccolini, or rigatoni in a lush ragu of wagyu beef, tomato and confit chilli.
Finish off strong with creations like the Tipomisu, or panacotta with carrot, sunrise lime and mint. Or, if your version of sweet leans to the savoury, the cheese selection is always a good idea.
Meanwhile, the Tipo 00 wine lineup takes a knowledgeable jaunt through the homeland, with no shortage of fitting pairings to the generous Italian flavours on your table. Local beers and Euro-centric cocktails round out the fun.
Kristoffer Paulsen
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