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[title]If you've spent hours queuing up to get a taste of Rocco's Bologna Discoteca's thick meatball subs with lashings of Napoli sauce, this news is for you: the pop-up is about to become a permanent venue. The brains behind Rocco's are also the ones behind one of Melbourne's best restaurants, Poodle Bar and Bistro, and the team have been busy doing up the two-storey venue located a stone's throw away from the Fitzroy venue.
As for the restaurant, you can expect a fun and casual affair inspired by Lygon Street in its heyday with casual Italian sandwiches available during the day and a dine-in menu at night, which also includes a late-night menu. Word on the grapevine is that the meatball sub will also appear on the supper menu, and the venue will be licensed, spruiking a short Italian-focused wine list curated by Alex Pineo, in addition to cocktails and tap beer.
The Italian sandwiches will include variations on what Rocco's is known and loved for: Rocco’s meatball subs, fried bologna sandwiches and pizza pockets.
"We have been planning to open up Rocco’s since the end of last year," says co-owner Emilio Scalzo who owns the venue with his wife, Zoë Rubino and head chef Josh Fry. "To this day, we still have more than a handful of people knocking on the door at Poodle each day looking for a meatball sub. We were pretty humbled by how much people resonated with the Rocco’s offering and it all came a bit of a surprise to us. It was intended as a lockdown pivot until we were able to open Poodle and quickly turned into something that looked to have its own place in the world."
So what distinguishes the two? "Rocco’s has definitely taken on a personality of its own. Poodle is certainly fun but has an element of finesse, where we think Rocco is naughtier and a little more rough around the edges. We do see Rocco’s and Poodle as two very different brands," says Scalzo. The venue will bring a slice of Little Italy to Fitzroy and should be the embodiment of a chef's kiss.