After fire destroyed chef Matti Fallon’s debut restaurant, community support helped him build another, right on Mornington’s beach (and he’s also planning a fine-diner out the back).
Last October, chef Matti Fallon’s debut restaurant, Colt in Mornington, was dealt a devastating blow, forced to close after a fire blazed through it only weeks after opening.
In the months since, Fallon has bounced back, this week opening a new Italian diner and wine bar, Mr Vincenzo’s, in prime position on the Esplanade.
“We found this picture of a man in Naples smoking a cigarette with tutto passa – ‘everything passes’ – tattooed on his chest,” says Fallon. “We got inspired by that.”
Tutto passa has become the restaurant’s slogan, but what really enabled Fallon’s next step was the unwavering generosity of the local community, from huge discounts at Bunnings to mate’s rates from local tradies, to plates supplied by Robert Gordon.
“It’s mind-blowing to think that [Colt] wasn’t even open for a month, but for people to take that much notice – and really want to help us out – is amazing.”
The delightful DIY fitout supposedly emulates the inside of a wine bottle: the floors are green, as is the corduroy upholstery, and there’s cork skirting and a chardonnay-hued wall. “I’m a big Wes Anderson fan, and the colour palette is very Moonrise Kingdom,” says Fallon.
Working with head chef Michael Kharsas – also from the Colt team – Fallon says he’s kept the menu at Mr Vincenzo’s “fun for us to make and fun for people to eat”.
“We’re obsessed with big-format pastas at the moment,” he says. These include hand-rolled pici (best described as fat spaghetti) dressed up with locally sourced mushrooms, truffle and porcini dust; and pillowy bone-marrow-dressed gnocchi cooked in a style similar to potsticker dumplings – they’re pan-fried, so one side gets a crust.
Smaller but no less punchy, there are char-grilled mortadella skewers glazed with house-made fig jam, and rotating piadine (Italian flatbread). The first iteration is garlic bread-esque and topped with pickled onions. Fallon also wants to bring back the trio of dips: “2001’s cuisine of, like, everywhere”.
Lots of great bottles of wine were lost in the fire, so here Fallon’s rebuilding his collection with a focus on natural Italian drops, including Fattoria Majnoni Guicciardini’s organic chianti.
Once Mr Vincenzo’s hits its stride, Fallon plans to open a fine diner in the space at the back of the building. Meanwhile, he says Colt’s reopening is about 18 months away.
Open Mon & Thu 5pm-11pm, Fri-Sat noon-11pm, Sun noon-7pm.
784 Esplanade, Mornington, mrvincenzos.com
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