For more than two decades,staff at this corner trattoria have greeted diners as guests and farewelled them as friends. This is hospitality with a capital H,from the lemon slices dropped gently into gleaming water glasses to the last lick of impossibly light tiramisu.

Sauces star across the prix-fixe menu,which is available as two or three courses. Fried zucchini flowers stuffed with ginger and prawn mousse benefit from a slick of caviar-specked bisque. A madeira,mustard and pepperberry jus takes perfectly pink grilled duck from great to magnificent,while the herb-and-garlic butter coating marron will have the politest diner considering a cheeky finger swipe.

The linen is crisp,the jazz gentle and the service meticulous. If the sweeping wine list isn’t quite enough,pop over the road to sister venue Bar Alba for yet more Italian-centric pours.

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Melbourne’s Eastern Suburbs

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