Established 1928 Food type Italian | Current owner(s) Grossi Family Dress code Smart | |
Head chef Guy Grossi, Chris Rodriguez Rating | ||
Grossi Florentino, as it is now known, is one of Melbourne’s oldest restaurant. It evolved from the wine shop Café Denat to a restaurant in 1928. In 1999 it was bought by the Grossi family.
Contents
History
The history of ‘Grossi Florentino’ began when Samual Wynn ran the business as a wine shop. His family lived there, in a room now called the ‘Wynn Room’. By 1928 Samual was focusing on wine growing when he eventually moved on to salvage Coonawarra Estate vineyard. Samual established ‘Café Denat’ before leaving. Rinaldo Massoni purchased ‘Café Denat’ (in 1928), and changed the name to ‘Café Florentino’ and the style to Italian.
In 1935 the property adjoning ‘Café Florentino’ was purchased and the upstairs dining room was extended and re-opened in time for Australia’s 150th birthday celebration. The Mural Room contains murals, plasterwork created by Picton Hopkins, and Emilio Gavotto’s lamps on the walls over each table.
A Chef from the Florentino made the first ever cassata in Australia. It turned out that the ingredients maraschino, alchermes and crème de menthe were illegal.
In 1941 Rinaldo Massoni died and his son Leon took over the restaurant, with partner George Tsindos.
In 1954 the license of the Florentino was changed from an Australian Wine license to a restaurant, so that the previously illegally sold imported sprits and wines could now be sold openly.
George and Leon opened the ‘The Cellar’, more informal and serving the countertop meals. Three years later they opened the ‘Bistro Grill’ on the opposite side of the staircase.
Leon Massoni sold his share of the restaurant to his partner George, and later owned restaurants including ‘Ristorante Massoni’ with his partner in business Pietro Grossi, the father of Guy who as of 1999 ran ‘Grossi Florentino'. George Tsindos ended a 50-year era by selling the ‘Florentino’ to Branco Tocigl. Failing in health, Branco Tocigl sold 'Florentino' to Floyd Podgornik in the late 1980s. Floyd updated and restored it, but committed suicide months after re-opening; his widow Lorraine took over through a difficult decade during which many of Melbourne’s grand restaurants closed. In 1999 Lorraine sold the ‘Florentino’ to the Grossi family, who renamed it ‘Grossi Florentino’.
In 2013, the Grossi family gave a fresh touch to the upstairs restaurant through a three-month renovation with the help of Architects Mills Gorman.
Sections
The Grossi family run the three separate parts of the restaurant: the Cellar bar, Grill and Restaurant. ‘The Cellar Bar’ offers simple Italian food; the 'Grill' has an open kitchen and is more relaxed than the restaurant; the 'Restaurant' upstairs is formal and serves modern and traditional Italian cooking. The restaurant has two rooms, the 'Mural ro the 13th century, Dante was sent to this city as emissary from Florence.
Panel 8 Jeane Diamond
This panel is Vallombrosa a hill town with its half-ruined shrines and chapel which are surrounded by pine forests and vineyards. Beneath Vallombrosa, across the forest, unfolds the beauty of the valley of the Arno River. Beside it runs the road which Dante and Saint Francis of Assisi trod.
Panel 9 Walter Beaumont
This mural illustrates the first Roman bridge over the Arno, Ponte Vecchio, constructed by Caius Flaminius in year 187BC, when he drove the road from Orezzo to Cisalpine through the valley of the Arno.
Publications
Guy Grossi has written five books, ‘Grossi Florentino - Secrets and Recipes’ and ‘My Italian Heart’, 'Recipes From My Mother's Kitchen' 'Italian Food Safari' and 'Love Italy'