The brand’s first location outside Italy was supposed to replicate an Italian market square, but most of the original stallholders have departed, with more changes to come.
It’s been just over a year since Italian food hub Il Mercato Centrale, one of Melbourne CBD’s most anticipated openings in recent years, arrived. An estimated $18 to $20 million went into building the brand’s first location outside Italy, in the Collins Street art deco McPherson’s Building at the business end of town.
When it finally opened on September 19 last year – more than three years after it was first announced, partly due to heritage-related complications – the 3000-person food hall and marketplace was immediately swamped. Punters were eager to explore two levels of stalls from 23 local artisans, where they could buy food and drink to enjoy on-site, or produce to take home.
“Those first couple of weeks were crazy,” says Manny Bonett, a manager of the fruit and veg stall operated by Melbourne greengrocer Biviano. “And then the vibe dropped off.”
Since opening, about 60 per cent of the original stallholders have departed, including That’s Amore cheesemaker Giorgio Linguanti, who had a mozzarella “lab” (although he still runs events at the market); TikTok star Valerio Violetti, who led the charge on Neapolitan pizza; and Alessandro Luppolo, a specialist in bean-to-bar chocolate.
Luppolo says that being busy from the get-go, and not having a soft-launch phase for the vendors to trial their concepts, led to some initial customer dissatisfaction.
“But all the issues people were having in the first few weeks – too expensive, they didn’t like the plastic cutlery, the music wasn’t correct – management were on it,” he says.
But for his business specifically, “each new week felt like the new worst week,” says Luppolo, who left after just two months.“[Premium chocolate] is a very hard product to sell in that kind of environment … It was my only shop at that time and I couldn’t afford to not be making money.”
In most cases, new artisans have stepped in to replace any who depart. That’s built into the concept, says deputy general manager Elisabetta Giusta, who worked for Il Mercato Centrale in Italy before relocating to Melbourne for the launch.
“Every Mercato in Italy has an important turnaround of faces and artisans and products,” she says. “The good thing about this concept is that flexibility is at its core.”
“We’re not reliant on any one person,” adds general manager Matt Crosbie.
‘Those first couple of weeks were crazy. And then the vibe dropped off.’
Manny Bonett, Biviano stall manager
In the early days, the Melbourne outpost was described as replicating an Italian market square – a destination to buy produce to cook at home – but that element has been scaled back.
“It’s still an amazing place to come because of the different varieties of [dine-in] food,” says Bonett. “But the whole concept was a marketplace, and that’s not really what it is [anymore].”
Gone are the fishmonger and butcher, though the latter is set to be replaced. After abundant fruit and veg displays went untouched, the Biviano stall morphed into a salad and sandwich bar, with a strong breakfast menu and just a few bowls of fresh produce.
“Mercato’s changed a lot, and we’ve changed as well to try and keep up,” says Bonett.
It hasn’t been a conscious reduction in fresh produce, according to Giusta, rather “twisting to what the Melbourne market needs”, with plans for a new deli and centralised retail area.
“[Retail] has always been a smaller portion of the revenue compared to dine-in,” she says.
Perhaps it’s a hard sell for Melburnians to do their food shop in this western part of the city, where parking can be pricey, or they have to lug their haul onto a train or tram, though that’s not a deterrent at other, more established inner-city markets such as South Melbourne and Prahran.
Arguably, Il Mercato Centrale has found most success as a food hall – somewhere to meet, eat and drink. Despite many of the most unmissable launch items no longer being available − from hulking Florentine-style T-bone steaks to blow-torched lobster rolls − it’s indisputable that the range of Italian food experiences under one roof is unlike anywhere else in Melbourne.
But it’s not all Italian: tacos and Texas barbecue arrived in March, joining sushi, smash burgers and paella.
Last Tuesday had a reasonable lunchtime hubbub across all levels, mostly from office workers. Good Food overheard positive pronouncements − such as “smells good!“, “I’m excited!” and “I’m starving!” − while surveying the stalls, which serve everything from gnocchi in a pizza “bowl” to piped-to-order cannoli.
But as with any hospitality business, fluctuations in trade come with the territory.
Kostas Starakis, who signed on in December to run separate meatball and calamari stalls, describes it this way: “It’s not, ‘oh my god, we’re slammed’. It’s just steady.”
“If there’s something on at Marvel [Stadium, nearby], then we tend to be a little bit busier and we get some traction from customers going to watch a game or concert.”
“It’s not, ‘oh my god, we’re slammed’. It’s just steady.”
Stallholder Kostas Starakis
Some vendors have found riding the wave more frustrating, saying that they’ve seen a significant downturn in business and that more marketing should be done. One who preferred to remain anonymous said, “it’s so hit or miss, you can never predict when you’re going to get people in”.
For their part, management says they’re implementing fresh strategies to bring in new faces and boost repeat visits. Monday, the slowest day, now has a night targeted at hospitality workers where each negroni comes with a free permanent tattoo they’ll ink on the spot (it’s optional), and more family-friendly fun is slated for Sundays.
Il Mercato Centrale bet big on Melbourne. It’s captured the surrounding suits, stadium crowds and some diehard foodies. But with this much hype, international regard and the potential to redefine its corner of the city, it could’ve been more of a runaway hit. Whether the problem is location, a diluted sales pitch or something else entirely, it’ll be interesting to see what changes − if anything − in year two.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
546 Collins Street, Melbourne, mercatocentrale.com.au
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