Lunchtime BYO, ‘glorious’ bruschetta: Count yourself lucky if this Italian is your local

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On one hand, this is a cosy neighbourhood Italian restaurant. Locals call up to order lasagne. A young family fills the table with arancini, gnocchi and an iPad. There’s a couple who were on their way to the grocery store, then got distracted by spritzes and crumbed lamb cutlets. On the other, this 30-seater is a very accomplished operation.

A waiter pours a glass of 2021 Agricola Punica Montessu from Sardinia using a fancy, wine-preserving gizmo called a Coravin while speaking confidently about the blend of carignano and cabernet sauvignon grapes. Jazzy chansons play over the sound system and water glasses are refilled promptly.

The bruschetta arrives and it’s glorious: a gleaming tower that plays with season and texture, sweetness and salt, in the layering of ricotta mousse, fresh tomato, shaved zucchini and prosciutto over charred bread.

Risotto lands on the table next to mine: even at a distance, you can see the perfect, starchy slump of every grain of rice. And now I’m jealous of my neighbours’ pasta, too – lobster luxuriating on fettuccine tossed with creamy bisque.

My envy is short-lived because the casarecce arrives and it’s compelling: those diners over yonder can covet my dinner now. The rustic twirls are among the best sauce-catchers in the pasta pantheon, perfect for conveying pistachio pesto.

Then comes the cotoletta, preceded by share plates hot from the warmer, one more detail that lets you know you’re in safe hands. Usually veal, the Tavola version is thick pork cutlet, breaded with gluten-free crumbs, cooked to golden perfection and super-juicy as it’s carved.

The cooking is on point, the service smooth, the wine exceptional: how did middle-suburban Bentleigh get such a slick restaurant?

It starts to make sense when you learn that the key crew concocted the idea at Caffe e Cucina, the Chapel Street restaurant that’s been teaching Melbourne about modern Italian cool since 1988. Massimo Fiorillo had been working on the floor for a decade when he felt that his own postcode might embrace a smart option for daily sustenance and occasional celebration. He pitched the idea to chef Stefano Critelli, who’d been at Caffe e Cucina almost as long.

Fiorillo’s wife, Sarah Bazzicchetto, took care of the interior, a quaint but crisp arrangement of dark timber, black-and-white photos, Venetian blinds, gold trim and friendly touches, such as the old, rotary-dial phone and Teledex at the entrance.

The owners bring influences from Sardinia, Lake Maggiore and Calabria and are plugging them into Melbourne dining culture. The fritto misto – a seafood fry-up that subs for the ubiquitous calamari – includes carrot and zucchini in a multiculti nod to tempura.

There’s BYO at lunch. And there are coeliac and vegan-friendly options, too. Fiorillo wishes people would try the Nutella panna cotta, but the tiramisu is compulsory, not because it’s startling but because it’s so straightforward: a melding of biscuit, espresso and mascarpone that proves that classics are classics for a reason.

Tavola means “table” and suggests gathering: this Tavola is a spirited neighbourhood expression of Italian culture. Count yourself lucky if it’s your local.

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.