CAFÉ SCENE
BRUNETTI
250 Flinders Ln, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000 Open Sunday to Thursday 6.00am – 11.00pm, Friday and Saturday, 6.00am – midnight.
Melbourne’s Italian pasticceria institution, Brunetti, has opened the doors to its new city store in Flinders Lane.
Brunetti closed its City Square store due to the Melbourne Metro Rail Project and has taken the opportunity to open another that celebrates a full dining experience and brings an “Italian wow factor” to the street.
“Where one door closes, another opens, and we’ve literally done that in a big way,” says Brunetti Director Fabio Angele.
The multi-million dollar fit-out is a celebration of Italian design in the 1950s and 60s. The 300-seat store is housed in the Emirates House building with neighbours Burberry and The Hourglass welcoming the Italian brand to the area.
“Finding a space like this one is something extraordinary. It was an old walkway that we’ve renovated. Customers can now enter via Flinders Lane and leave via Collins Street or vice versa,” Fabio says. “Years ago there wasn’t much reason to walk down Flinders Lane, but now it’s a privilege to be here.”
The architects have modernised the space to attract a younger crowd with the use of an exposed ceiling, but there’s still traditional design elements to encourage families and Brunetti regulars.
Fabio says the goal is to transport visitors to Rome – even if just for an hour.
“If you can’t fly there, you might as well visit us here and embrace a little piece of Italy,” he says.
Fabio’s father Giorgio learnt his pastry skills back in Rome at his cousin’s shop before winning a competition to travel to Melbourne as a pastry chef with the 1956 Italian Olympic Team. It was here that Giorgio fell in love with Melbourne and decided to migrate to the city soon after returning to Italy. Giorgio worked in in Italian kitchens
