Drinking Melbourne is the weekly newsletter from drinks writer Fred Siggins, unpacking what’s happening in Melbourne’s bars (and what you can learn from them), sent every Tuesday to your inbox. Get on the list here.
In this newsletter:
- how the Martini is interpreted across three spaces at Florentino;
- details on “one of the most interesting exercises in culinary archeology,” Fred Siggins has ever heard;
- how Felix Woods approaches the drinks program across the bars at Florentino;
- the specs for his elevated riff on the French 75;
- and loads more.
Last October it was announced that Edition Hospitality, owners of modern Australian restaurant Nomad (in both Melbourne and Sydney), as well as French fine diner Reine & La Rue, had purchased the troubled restaurant group Grossi. The Grossi family business held the reins of one of Melbourne’s most storied restaurants since 1999, and while nearly 30 years is nothing to sneeze at, Florentino has been around since the 1920s, serving as a cornerstone of the city’s Italian hospitality tradition for nearly 100 years.
With flashy new openings nearly every week, it’s easy, sometimes, to forget our hospo history. And this idea of a relatively new restaurant group taking over one of Australia’s most important legacy titles is fascinating to me. So last week I sat down with Edition’s Executive Chef Michael Greenlaw and Group Bars Manager Felix Woods (formerly of The Attic at Black Pearl) to get the story.
“We took over in mid-December, the busiest two weeks of the year,” says Greenlaw, “so it was a pretty hectic time. But Florentino opened in 1928 — we’re celebrating 100 years next year — and we’re so proud to have the chance to continue that legacy.”
It’s important to note that the sale of Florentino to Edition Hospitality came in the wake of reporting by The Age of sexual harassment allegations against Guy Grossi. Edition CEO Rebecca Yazbek around the time of the sale spoke about wanting to draw a line under the previous era and move on. “We deal with complaints pretty rigorously through our people and culture team, and we’re hoping to build that within what the [Florentino] team already has,” she told Good Food.
With five venues in the group including Florentino, the flagship fine diner; Florentino Cafe (formerly Grill), the more meat-centric, more casual, a-la-carte restaurant; classic pasta and wine venue Cellar Bar; wine bar Ombra; and late-night bar Arlechin, it has been no small task.