The Independent, Gembrook
After 11 years, Melbourne’s only hatted Argentinian restaurant, The Independent in Gembrook, is shaking it up. On September 12, it relaunches with a menu that celebrates both sides of chef-owner Mauro Callegari’s Argentinian and Italian heritage. But redirecting towards Italian food is also a pragmatic decision.
“I love it, everybody loves it and I think it’s easier to understand,” Callegari says. “Everyone knows what pesto is; not everyone knows what chimichurri is.”
The Independent’s seasonal, local-produce-loving ethos won’t change, but how it manifests will. Seafood will play more of a starring role, as will house-made pasta, with a selection that could include ricotta gnocchi in a Tuscan ragu, or pumpkin ravioli.
Callegari will retain a handful of long-standing dishes that “would be near impossible to take off the menu” including empanadas, grilled beef with chimichurri, and smoked maple carrots.
Also part of the reboot is a repainted striped facade, new handmade tableware from potter Sam Gordon’s fitting “Gembook” collection, and a fresh rotation of artworks.
79 Main Street, Gembrook, theindependentgembrook.com.au
Bottarga, Brighton
Bottarga’s unusual fusion of Italian, Asian and Australian flavours will soon have a new address – but it’s staying in Brighton. On October 11, it’ll shut up shop on Martin Street, before the hatted restaurant relocates to 198 Bay Street in early November.
Following unsuccessful lease negotiations at the current site, “we’re taking a risk and reinvesting everything again,” says chef and co-owner Federico Bizzaro.
Bottarga 2.0 will be “a step up”, with a larger space, private dining room and more flexible menu offering a la carte options alongside Bizzaro’s 13-course tasting menu. New dishes include agnolotti stuffed with emu, rabbit, wild boar and crocodile.
198 Bay Street, Brighton, bottarga.com.au
Underbar, Ballarat
Destination fine diner Underbar is undoing its top button on Friday nights in September, running a three-course, family-style Italian trattoria menu for $110 a head, $65 less than the tasting menu. It follows the success of French bistro Fridays in August.
While the usual offering is a special occasion affair, chef Derek Boath says, “These more casual Fridays offer guests a tasty, hearty meal at more of a mid-range price point.”
Start with antipasti, move onto lasagne with ricotta bechamel, Salt Kitchen cotechino, and finally pistachio semifreddo with dark-chocolate mousse.
3 Doveton Street North, Ballarat Central, underbar.com.au
Dining and Cooking