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Amatrice
Level 10/16 Stephenson St, Cremorne VIC 3121
Amatrice in Cremorne feels like someone picked up a slice of Rome, dropped it ten storeys above Melbourne, and then quietly let the locals figure out they’re onto something special.
The multi-level setup café at street level, rooftop restaurant up top makes it feel like a little Italian universe stacked vertically, with the dining room framed by big views and a steady hum of people leaning into long, indulgent meals.
It’s the sort of place where you can tell the building has a story too, right down to the fact the site is owned by Brett from The Blind Factory, which feels exactly on-brand for a venue with this many windows and this much glass to show off the city.
We started with the focaccia ($8), then moved onto the small plates of pasta – the pasta section is where Amatrice really starts flexing.
The Gricia ($31) is a Roman classic that often hides in the shadow of its louder cousins, but here it’s front and centre: silky strands, glossy with rendered fat and cheese, and those little nubs of guanciale doing all the smoky, salty heavy lifting.
It’s the kind of dish that looks almost plain on the plate and then quietly ruins all other “carbonara-adjacent” pastas for you.
The ragu ($42) takes the opposite approach – deeper, richer, slow-cooked and generous, the sort of bowl you instinctively want to eat more slowly just to make it last a bit longer.
The spanner crab entrée ($39) is where things get a little luxurious. Spanner crab can be timid if handled badly, but here it tastes clean and sweet, with enough richness around it to feel special without smothering the actual crab.
It’s the dish that makes you pause mid-conversation and go, “okay, that’s really good”.
The spring vegetables ($16) sound like the “I’ll be good” option but arrive looking far more exciting than that – bright, seasonal, and properly seasoned, the kind of side that actually earns a seat at the table rather than filling space.
Dessert at Amatrice is not an afterthought; it’s a second act. The tiramisu ($23) leans into the classic flavours; coffee, mascarpone, cocoa with enough lightness that it doesn’t feel like a brick landing after all that pasta.
The pavlova ($22) is the playful one: crisp shell, soft centre, and a riot of cream and fruit that feels a little antipodean twist at the end of a very Italian evening.
If you can only pick one, you’ll have a genuine dilemma on your hands; the sensible answer is not to pick at all and share both.
Amatrice is the kind of place that makes eating out feel properly eventful again: big views, confident cooking, and a menu that respects tradition without feeling stuck in it.
Between the focaccia that disappears too quickly, the gutsy pastas, and desserts worth lingering over, it’s easy to imagine this rooftop becoming a regular “special but not stuffy” go-to.
And given who owns the building, you just know the blinds are sorted, all that’s left for you to do is sit back, watch the skyline glow, and twirl another forkful of Gricia.
Images: Supplied
Dining and Cooking