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Café Di Stasio

Enduring quality and sharp service set this decades-old stalwart apart from Melbourne’s plethora of Italian restaurants. In a moodily lit room, maître d’ Mallory Wall directs the daily theatre that is Di Stasio. Lunch deals are great value – two courses, a wine and coffee for $35 – but evenings are when it comes alive as one of the city’s favourite society dining rooms. Oysters baked with parmesan and horseradish are a specialty, while house-made pasta such as springy bread maltagliati with calamari and radicchio are the standard by which Steven Rofe’s kitchen is most often judged. Grab the porchetta con mela if it’s on the menu – juicy roast suckling pig with a sweet baked apple. The perfect wine match is guaranteed from a list of more than 400 Italian and ample Australasian vintages. Zabaglione, a grown-up’s crème caramel laced with Marsala, ends the evening on the sweetest high.