There’s something about a white-coated floor team scooping tableside tiramisu that makes the heart sing. But to find one serving 1.2 kilo bistecca alla Fiorentina and pouring from an enormous list of local and Italian wines against a backdrop of azure banquettes and squillion dollar lighting? That’ll just about set the heart to yodelling.
Driven by a hand-built wood oven and a Josper grill, Chris Lucas’s glam Flinders Lane steakhouse is here at last, and it’s every bit as mid-century Manhattan, toe-tappin’-finger-snappin’-Mad Men-debonair as we’d hoped. Here’s what to order when you get there, as recommended by Lucas himself.
How about a drink?
No visit is complete without trying our namesake cocktail, the Americano. Cacao nib vermouth, Campari and mandarin soda, served on a silver tray with two chocolatedipped orange segments.
I’m here for a good time not a long time.
Anything from the cicchetti section, which means ‘small snacks’. A stand-out? Aged hunks of Reggiano, drizzled tableside with Piemontese chestnut honey. Best enjoyed at the bar, with a Cherry Spritz in hand.
Got anything light and fresh?
Order the octopus carpaccio: dressed with chilli, lemon and extra virgin olive oil, smoked ever so slightly in the wood-fire oven.
What if I like tasty food but don’t eat animals?
Enter the bistecca di cavolfiore. Cauliflower steak with chickpea puree, beans and mushrooms. The ravioli Caprese and garganelli basil pesto are also excellent vegetarian pastas.
Name the dish that best captures the Grill Americano vibe.
The menu’s centrepiece from the grill, bistecca alla Fiorentina. A 1.2 kilo T-bone, grilled to perfection over the Josper and brushed with olive oil and rosemary.
Let’s go big. Let’s go crazy. What have you got for me?
For the full Grill Americano experience – the grigliata mista Americano, our take on the classic mixed grill for two. A highlight of Australian produce featuring rib-eye, Tuscan sausage, eye fillet and more.
And to close?
A tableside scoop of the tiramisu Americano. An elegant take on a classic, featuring a hidden layer of tempered chocolate that cracks upon serving.
Grill Americano, 112 Flinders Ln, Melbourne, 03 8616 8010, grillamericano.com, @grillamericano