And after tasting the “flawless” tiramisu, she’s already planning visit number three to Central Park Cellars.
13.5/20
Italian$
It’s not often I like a place so much that I visit twice in one day, but not every venue is Central Park Cellars. On this afternoon, I’m in the leafy east in need of tea and a chat with a friend. We planned a brisk stroll in nearby Central Park, but the weather’s being unkind. With our backs to the wind, we’re blown down Burke Road. A place with “Cellars” in its name doesn’t sound like cuppa territory but, 10 minutes later, we find ourselves ensconced in a charming window booth sipping cups of lemongrass-and-ginger tea.
Down the back, a chef rolls pasta in a picturesque flour haze. Closer to us, shelves of high-quality independent wine are ready for drinking here or ferrying home. In the toilets, the wallpaper features line drawings of local dogs. At a sheltered table outside, a young family carves out 20 minutes: the parents sip prosecco and beer, the kids are brought to quiet stillness by hot chips. In the other window nook, a happy rambler receives crossword assistance from a glass of Musk Lane syrah.
I’m eating out with friends later and now I know where. I want the pasta I saw being rolled, and I want some of that wine, too.
So here I am, back again in the evening, in a den that gets fuller and louder as the minutes roll by: mates, dates, cross-table talk from parents who know one other from school drop-off, a book club that doesn’t even pretend to open a tome. Waiters work gamely, teetering on the cresting wave of a busy weekend.
“A chef rolls pasta in a picturesque flour haze. I’m eating out with friends later and now I know where. I want the pasta I saw being rolled.”
The building has been a licensed grocer since 1930. When the business came up for sale a few years ago, two couples decided to buy it, bringing skills from business, healthcare and marketing to their first foray into food. Mick and Paula Stephenson, Craig Buffham and Fiona Doyle have refined the wine offering (and promise they’ve tasted every wine they sell – well, they do say hospitality is tough), improved the menu and smartened up the interior, installing soundproofing, timber panelling and banquettes. There’s music on Fridays and, where nearby restaurants Grazia and Riserva are dress-up and splurgy, the Cellars is come-as-you-are and stay-till-whenever.
The menu was designed by Andrea Serreli, who left recently to take on the head chef gig at hatted Scopri in Carlton. His long-time protege, Mandeep Paudel, is now leading the kitchen under the guidance of the owners and with buy-in from regulars, who aren’t shy of expressing opinions.
There’s pubby stuff, such as barramundi tacos, fried chicken, a shareable, 400-gram rib-eye and bloody good chips served with house-made chicken salt. I have more of this addictive salt on the rim of my Salted Hen cocktail, a margarita-adjacent walloper with mezcal and jalapeno syrup.
An Italian thread to the menu explains the citrus-cured snapper, octopus with Sardinian walnut sauce, and lovingly made pasta and risotto, which are both available as $20 midweek specials.
The food isn’t faultless: the risotto’s on the chalky side of al dente, although the pea and mascarpone combination is delicious. The beef-cheek ragu is a little thin, but the flavours are honest and the accompanying tagliatelle is supple and silky.
Everything is offered in such warm spirit that it’s easy to overlook the rough bits of the diamond. I’m a sucker for tiramisu and the one here is flawless, a delightful drawcard to get me back for visit number three.
The low-down
Atmosphere: Local lounge room
Go-to dishes: Tagliatelle with beef cheek ($34); Salted Hen cocktail ($24); risotto of the week ($20-$25); tiramisu ($18)
Drinks: The owners source mostly local wine from small suppliers and promise they’ve tried everything on the well-stocked shelves − there’s plenty around $60. The cocktails are fun and there are a couple of beers on tap.
Cost: About $90 for two, excluding drinks
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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