Occupying the space formerly home to upmarket wine bar Gertrude Street Enoteca, Rosella is bringing old-school Italian dining to the much-frequented thoroughfare – a marked change from the quiet backstreets of Collingwood where it used to sit. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think it’d been there for years.
Greeting you from the outset are raucous sounds of merriment bouncing off its stucco concrete walls – so very different from the hushed atmosphere of its predecessor – and an impressive glass cabinet deli papered over with a black-and-white splashback of an Italian family in a restaurant from the 1950s. The photographs ground Rosella in the nostalgic feel of unhurried meals enjoyed with loved ones on sun-kissed alfresco decks.
Rosella takes its responsibility of feeding patrons in a lavish and unrushed manner seriously. You won’t find multiple sittings here – no dessert orders taken with only five minutes of your reservation to spare, the next group waiting impatiently in the wings. If you dine at Rosella, prepare to settle in for the night. Service – particularly if you get co-owner Rocco Esposito – is cheeky and irreverent, and your requests for parmesan will only be tolerated once you sample the pastas without it.
Taking a leaf from the restaurant’s interiors, the wine list is a traditional, carefully curated selection of regional Victorian and Italian producers, owing to Esposito’s previous gig as Vue de Monde’s wine director – you won’t find any of your funky pet nats or skin-contact oranges here. And apart from the deli meats and a few select dishes, Rosella’s menu is seafood-forward, evoking the sprawling south-eastern coastlines of Esposito’s home Puglia, Abruzzo and Calabria.
Start with the mortadella from the affettati (cured meats) section of the menu, served with mini gherkins, a dab of English mustard and tendrils of pickled onion. Avail yourself of each of the accompaniments alongside the mortadella to allow the heat of the mustard to shoot through the sour saltiness. The waitstaff wheel out bread from Falco at every opportunity, and it's well worth your time.
Off the cold section, pieces of octopus are grilled in the silky, garlicky olive oil dressing of salmoriglio – enjoy them against the accompanying crunch of earthy squid ink chips. The raw snapper crudo is fresh and delicate, enlivened by shaved lemon zest and a subtle bed of fennel purée and shavings of pickled fennel.
The Pugliese pasta speciality spaghetti all’assassina has found its way onto Melbourne menus – Hardware Club heralds its version the spiciest pasta in town, but Rosella comes close. Dubbed the ‘killer spaghetti’, spaghetti all’assassina is cooked as if it were a risotto and you replaced the arborio rice with spaghetti and the broth with a garlicky piquant tomato sauce – culminating in a heat-filled, velvety pasta dish where the sauce stubbornly clings to every strand of spaghetti, some pleasantly crisp from caramelising at the bottom of a cast iron pan. We’re gallantly served our individual portions to avoid tomato-flicked stains on our shirts, and it’s a wise decision by Esposito.
Our next pasta dish – calamarata ai frutti di mare – is the main culprit behind the wonderfully savoury smells wafting from surrounding tables. ‘Frutti di mare’ translates to mean ‘fruit of the sea’ and the ocean medley that features in this dish alone is impressive – mussels, clams, diced snapper and squid are tossed together with thick calamari ring-reminiscent pasta shapes aptly termed calamarata and baked in a parchment parcel which is unveiled theatrically upon arrival at our table. The parsley-flecked calamarata becomes slightly gummy upon cooking, but this only makes it more of a perfect vessel to absorb the garlicky, buttery sauce punctuated by the sweet bursts of cherry tomatoes.
We opt for a third pasta dish because Esposito simply tells us the lamb ribs aren’t ready and the orecchiette carbonara does not disappoint. Generously studded with peppercorns, the light yet creamy sauce blanketing the little ear shapes is complemented by the tender morsels of lightly fried swordfish interspersed throughout. Because our meal isn’t rich enough, we opt for the green side dish of baby cos with bagna cauda – a robust blend of anchovies, garlic, olive oil and butter – garnished with crisp sprinkles of pangrattato.
Our waitstaff mischievously enquires after our after-dinner beverages – the options posed are limoncello or espresso – but we opt for two desserts instead. Upon guaranteeing that we’re fans of chocolate, we’re served the tartufo – smooth, decadent chocolate gelato covered in shavings of rich dark chocolate peppered with berries and cacao nibs. It’s strongly reminiscent of a black forest cake, except even more indulgent and milky – the perfect chaser to a highly savoury meal. The custard cannoli is less sweet in comparison, particularly with its welcome fruity components of dehydrated orange and pear.
You’ll barely notice the hours flying by at Rosella, what with the convivial service, the steady stream of toothsome dishes and the comforting surroundings. Gertrude Street Enoteca left big shoes to fill after a 17-year stint, but Rosella is more than up to the challenge.
Looking to try more of our city's finest dining establishments? Check out our round-up of the best restaurants in Melbourne.
