Eventually we'll make it to the top of the stairs!

Ok .... so we had dinner at a Melbourne Instituition ... Grossiiiiii ... erm if you were going to finish that with Florentino ... then Not Quite!!

We only made it as far as the Cellar Bar ...

We will one day venture next door to the Grill .... (baby steps)

and if we're very lucky ... then we'll venture next door and up the stairs for the full Florentino experience!!!

Grossi is your old school Italian complete with gruff elderly waiters and romanesque prices ... the service from our young waitor was perfunctory, but Salieri the ancient mafia runner (not his real name .... sorry I know ... Stereotype!!) kept telling us that our table was too small for 4 people much to our obvious consternation (I had the full Office look on my face and M had the "i'm ready to rumble" look he gets like when he's at the checkout at our local supermarket) .. and getting on M's offside in the process .. but he did put things to rights by joining tables together for us, and when J turned up and flashed her boobies (no not literally) he was all smiles and jokes ... I even chipped in with a 50 50 comment whilst moving my upturned palms up and down ... "dad joke alert"!!!

Anyhoo ... even though its the cheaper end of Grossi's culinary empire, the food is still pretty damn amazing. And of course its the place for celebrity spottage ... even as we settled into our little snug, Thomas Kenneally was browsing in the bookshop nearby.

We shared a plate of salt cod croquettes for starters, I had the penne with smoked chicken and peas, M had the sardines wrapped in speck and served with a pile of spiced breadcrumbs, both J & C had the roast pumpkin tortellini. ALL cooked to perfection and delicious in the simple execution ... I can just imagine the dance that occured when our dishes were being prepared in the kitchen ... you know the story of the tailor who could kill 7 flies with one blow ... well I imagine my penne being whipped together with a single balletic flip of a kitchen towel!!

Now don't come expecting american diner portions, the amounts are just right ... anymore and we will be calling the fat pig police!! Although I felt like dialling their number when we all pulled for a dessert each. M & C had the sticky date, J had the baked cheesecake and I had the bread and butter pudding ... TDF!

No pics I'm afraid ... Salieri would have clubbed me on the head and smashed my camera ... fo' shur!!!