I seem to spend a lot of time in the small Italian and Sons restaurant in hipster heaven in downtown Braddon, with its equally small bar annexe, Bacaro, at the rear. It’s so good and so pleasant that it’s easy to forget the other parts of the Italian empire – Mezzalira and Da Rosario.
The flagship restaurant, Mezzalira, is across the the city from Italian and Sons, near the National University. It’s in the fabulous but somewhat neglected though stately Melbourne Building, with its Italianate arches and colonnades. Da Rosario is a hole in the wall attached to it, serving fine lunches, coffees and Italian pastries.
 |
| Mezzalira Ristorante - in the glorious though neglected Melbourne Building in the heart of Civic. |
Last
night my dinner companion and I joined some old friends (also long-term
friends) to sample the wares of Mezzalira one more time. We hadn’t been for a
while so I was excited to be seated on the corner of the Melbourne Building in
the heart of Civic. We were feeling a bit peckish so while we made up our minds
we had a plate of their signature rosemary focaccia bread with a side serve of Cerignola
green and Taggiasche black olives ‘Schiacciate’ with sage, chilli and rosemary.
