Glen Waverley is known for lots of things – great noodles, K-BBQ and a fabulous antiques bazaar – but Italian food is not one of them. Newcomer Gambino, a sleek restaurant and bar over two levels, stands out with its arancini and squid ink linguine.

But it’s not a cookie-cutter Italian joint. Gambino’s owners (also involved in city Armenian restaurant Sezar) have tapped chef Adrian Li to infuse the menu with his slightly madcap style of Italian.

Li shook things up at La Madonna, the hotel restaurant on Little Collins Street that opened in 2021, and is also a partner in cosy Italian restaurant Zia Rina’s in Armadale and in Commune Group’s venues, including Tokyo Tina and Studio Amaro.

Here, he adds his unorthodox spin to many dishes. But there are still crowd-favourites such as calamari fritti, and sourdough focaccia to be loaded with antipasti.

The most head-turning dish might be the bistecca al pepe, combining two unlikely influences: steak Diane and xiao long bao. Eye fillet comes to the table topped with a single raviolo and nothing else on the plate. But once the pasta is pierced, peppery mushroom sauce erupts, just like a xiao long bao’s explosion of broth. The dish took 19 attempts to get right, says Li.

He’s also bought some of his La Madonna calling cards, including the Caprese, a very sculptural take on the classic Italian side of tomato, basil and mozzarella.

A plump whole tomato acts as a shell for a filling of stracciatella (the milky stuff that oozes out of burrata), while the basil is blitzed into an oil, with a lick of yuzu kosho for heat. The final dish looks a little early 2000s, a little molecular gastronomy.

“When you taste it, it’s more umami than your average Caprese,” the chef says.

There’s also tuna and prawn crudo with Calabrian chilli; spicy vodka pasta using shell-shaped conchiglie; and cavolo nero risotto topped with garlic prawns. Dry-aged duck, a dish Li says he still gets asked about more than a year since leaving La Madonna, will be available in super limited numbers each day.

The moody dining room of blue velvet, dark marble tabletops and rose-gold accents seats 80. One level up, Gambino’s rooftop bar (open since December) is brighter and more casual, with pizzas, mini meatball sandwiches and a couple of pastas.

For Li, cooking in Glen Waverley represents a return to the area he spent the most time during his teens and 20s. After COVID, he was sad to see the main strip looking run down. “It used to be pumping,” he says.

Gambino could jolt things to life, along with new apartments and the suburban rail loop, he believes. Plus, he reckons there’s demand for more elevated experiences that don’t involve a trip to Windsor or the city.

“There’s nothing like this in the area. The next closest thing to us is probably Beverly [the South Yarra rooftop venue],” Li says.

Dinner Wednesday to Saturday

Level 5, 73-75 Kingsway, Glen Waverley, gambino.au