The comedy trio and restaurateurs of Carlton’s smash-hit Italian diner Johnny, Vince & Sam’s share their food and drink favourites in Melbourne, Sydney and at home.
Popular Melbourne-based comedy trio (and reigning Kings of Moomba) Sooshi Mango may be best known for their raucous comedy, but their fun Italian diner, Johnny, Vince & Sam’s, on Carlton’s Lygon Street has made them successful restaurateurs as well.
Two years after opening, queues for the walk-in-only venue still snake down the street, with diners keen to experience the restaurant’s home-style Italian cooking, note-perfect nod to nonna-style decor and an always fun and lively atmosphere.
The menu, created in collaboration with Johnny Di Francesco of award-winning pizzeria 400 Gradi fame, is an ode to the dishes they grew up eating – spaghetti and meatballs, lasagne and cotolette [schnitzels] among them.
The two-level restaurant was inspired by a now-closed Camberwell eatery where two-thirds of Sooshi Mango, brothers Joe and Carlo Salanitri, would dine with family as youngsters.
A “for lease” sign at the former Pizza by the Metre site in Carlton, where the Salanitri brothers ate with extended family, did momentarily have the trio considering expanding their hospitality footprint, but with a full work plate already, the lads, along with friend and Sooshi Mango’s other member Andrew Manfre, are focusing on their comedy shows for now.
They’re back on the tour circuit with their show Home Made − an encore serve of Italo-Australian humour from August.
The trio took some time out between pizza slices and performing to share some of their all-time food and drink favourites, and the inspiration behind their hit restaurant.
EATING IN
Signature dish at home
Joe Salanitri: My mum’s pasta with broccoli. It’s a simple dish that’s peasant in style and so easy to do yourself. I cook the broccoli until it’s soft, and then whisk it with pasta and add salt, olive oil and chilli – optional. Growing up, garlic was a no-go zone in my house because my dad hated it. Mum would then load the pasta with grana padano cheese. It’s so delicious.
Andrew Manfre: I love making a simple Sicilian salad when at home − fresh tomatoes, oregano, olive oil, salt, cucumber and olives. My kids love it, but only when I make it.
Carlo Salanitri: For me, it’s cotolette. I add parsley to the breadcrumbs, and try to get it as golden and crispy as my mum does. It all comes down to the oil ratio and the temperature of the pan.
My guilty pleasure
Joe: I shouldn’t eat cannoli, but I also can’t stop at one when I do. I am lactose-intolerant now, so I really should avoid them.
Andrew: I can’t resist eating a spoonful of tiramisu if someone orders it at a restaurant.
Carlo: I grew up on Nutella, and it’s still a guilty pleasure. I could eat it from a jar with a spoon. It’s my kryptonite.
The kitchen wisdom I cling to
Joe: You can’t go wrong with using minimum ingredients for maximum flavour when it comes to Italian food. I have been watching a lot of Italian cooking shows of late, and one thing I continue to observe is that you can do a lot with four ingredients, and any dish can still taste amazing. I stick to that cooking philosophy at home.
Andrew: I try to fight my tight-arse Italian heritage when I go shopping, but my mum instilled in me to always shop the cheaper brand because that was her thing. I fight the urge not to do as she did.
Carlo: If a dish works in a specific way, don’t deviate from it. Too many people are trying to change how a lasagne is made, for example. It’s the way it was supposed to be made for a reason. Keep it traditional. I tell my wife to stop putting mushrooms and corn kernels in a bolognese sauce − they are not meant to be there!
EATING OUT
Favourite nostalgic home town meals
Joe and Carlo: Growing up, our family went to Pizza by the Metre in Lygon Street, and we would always eat a massive tray of half capricciosa and half margherita pizza with 25 other family members. We also dined at a place called La Casalinga in Camberwell. They made dishes like we do at our restaurant now, all home-style cooking. The people who ran it knew you by your first name. It was homely and an inspiration for what we have done with our restaurant.
Andrew: Going to Toto’s on Lygon Street was a ritual we did every Saturday night as a family. They also had a location in Glen Huntly for a while. We’d eat a capricciosa pizza with salty olives and anchovies. As I got older, we’d go to now-closed Cafe Notturno on Lygon Street for the best veal scaloppine with mushroom sauce ever.
Favourite home town cafe now
Joe: A visit to Pellegrini’sfor a coffee is a must when in Melbourne. It’s where you go for simple and authentic pasta dishes, too. The Stanley in Mount Waverley is where I grab a coffee close to home. It used to be an old milk bar and it has been converted into a cool cafe now. I always have a short black with one sugar. Oat milk over full cream now, too, as I am not great with lactose.
Andrew: A cafe I go to regularly is The Korner & Co in Bentleigh East. They make a nice chai latte. I am also lactose-intolerant these days, so it’s always with almond milk.
Favourite bar and go-to drink
We all love Bar Bambi in Melbourne’s Flinders Lane. It’s run by our good friends.
Joe: I always have a tequila on ice with lime. After five, your face goes numb.
Carlo: I like an old-fashioned cocktail or an amaretto sour.
Andrew: It’s a bourbon and coke, or a limoncello spritz when I feel like getting fancy.
Memories of great dinner dates
Joe: Oushou – a Japanese restaurant in Hawthorn East. The guys will laugh at me because I go here for the teriyaki chicken. We have been going there for years with my wife and her family and our kids. It’s got great sushi and sashimi.
Andrew: I celebrated all my kids’ baptisms at the Italian restaurant Sette Bello in Mount Waverley − it’s a fantastic place. They would make a fabulous cappelletti in brodo. You never see that on a menu anywhere. It’s a traditional Italian dish from the region where my mother is from in Italy. These days, I also dine at Saigon Mamma in Carnegie – we eat pho with my kids. I didn’t eat Asian food until I was 38.
Carlo: I like everything about Gimlet. The food is consistent, the ambience is great. The gnocchi fritto, bresaola and parmesan is delicious, and the raw tuna with smoked creme fraiche and the caviar is great here, too. I come here with my wife for our anniversary dinners.
When in Sydney
Joe: For a drink, we go to Tanuki in Double Bay, a Japanese restaurant with a great drinks list. We always order sushi. There’s oysters and caviar, sashimi and chef’s selection of steaks, chicken karaage and calamari on the menu. The wagyu beef skewers are delicious. It’s fusion style.
Andrew: I go to Da Orazio, Bondi, for pizza, pasta and grilled mortadella, and Organica for the lamb (from the meat board, which includes lamb cutlets, sheftalia and koupes). There are lots of great Mediterranean dishes on
the menu from Greek salads to rocket salads.
Carlo: I like 6HEAD in Campbells Cove in The Rocks for its great steaks. It’s a fine-dining restaurant, but the servings are plentiful. From rib-eye to sirloin and tomahawk – all cuts can be found here.
Favourite food city
In New York, we dined at Luigi’s – a traditional Italian restaurant for pizza and pasta. Try the Nonna-style pizza, which has sauce on the top and cheese on the bottom.
In Chicago, we went to Gino and Marty’s after a show. We were so tired and far from home, and this restaurant welcomed us with open arms. The pasta is handmade by the dad next door – they serve spicy gnocchi, nero rosso and Sunday sauce (hand-twisted casarecce, braised beef ragu).
Jane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living’s Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.Connect via Twitter or email.
