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There are some restaurants we tend to hear about all the time, and there are some that we barely hear about at all. It might stand to reason that this is an issue of quality – the cream rises to the top and all that. But sometimes that’s not the case. Sometimes things of extraordinary quality go uncelebrated for reasons that are hard to discern.

Lagotto, in Fitzroy North, is such a place. When it opened, in May 2019, it was somewhat eclipsed by its sister restaurant, Congress, which opened a year earlier. (Congress closed last year, in part to honour the legacy of one of its founders, Katie McCormack, who died from cancer in February 2022, aged 39.)

Lagotto won the Best Identity Design award from Artichoke magazine’s prestigious Eat Drink Design awards for its clever branding, including the use of large colourful photographs in its decor and on its website, which capture the spirit of a certain era of vintage Italian aesthetics. But there wasn’t much chatter among the food-obsessed about the place.

The wedge of a building, which houses apartments on the upper floors, gets light from windows along two sides, and the L-shaped dining room comprises a long marble bar, clubby maroon banquettes and mid-century light fixtures along white and honeyed timber walls.

Originally, it served as a day-to-night cafe, then endured the indignities of the pandemic and Melbourne’s lockdowns, and re-emerged from that period as less of a cafe and more of a neighbourhood trattoria.

Everyone ought to be talking more about this spot, and this chef.

Perhaps it’s because this part of the inner-north has so many fine neighbourhood trattorias, perhaps it’s the curse of its Nicholson Street-facing location (for some reason Nicholson is a difficult street on which to do business, unless you’re Scopri), or maybe it’s just that its golden period of newness passed by before it really figured out what it was, but Lagotto has mostly slipped under the radar.

Which is a shame, because the space is lovely, the drinks list is fun, and the food is much, much better than it needs to be.

These days, that food is thanks to chef Matteo Fulchiati, an Italian-born chef who has lived in Melbourne for the past decade, working at venues such as Lake House and Osteria Ilaria.

At Lagotto, he’s presenting a version of Italian cooking that’s as fun as it is skilful, with twists that give it a modern edge. The best example of that playful modernity is perhaps the mortadella bigne ($9 each), a ridiculous and delicious snack that sees choux pastry filled with a creamy salty meaty airy smoosh: mortadella in the form of mousse, basically.

Skull island prawns ($16) with ’nduja and sea urchin butter are predictably fantastic. Less probable? A wedge of celeriac ($26), cooked until its vegetal flesh has turned lightly sweet, topped with hazelnuts, hazelnut cream, and a flurry of crisped saltbush. It was the unexpected favourite of the night.

I also wasn’t expecting to get one of the best steaks I’ve had in yonks at Lagotto, but that’s exactly what Fulchiati delivered with the wagyu rump cap ($60), a gloriously meaty, deeply flavoured piece of sliced beef, served with a wedge of singed cabbage.

Fulchiati is obviously passionate about his pasta – on Sundays, he presents a lunch menu called “pasta with friends” for $75 a head that includes a few starters, two seasonal pasta dishes, bread, salad and dessert.

I was lucky enough, a couple of weeks back, to visit when a special of the evening was a whole Moreton Bay bug served over saffron spaghettini ($60), enveloped in a concentrated and rich essence-of-seafood bisque.

The drinks list is heavy on Italian wines, as you’d anticipate, and there’s a strong list of apertivi, classic-ish cocktails, and digestives.

Whatever the reasons for Lagotto’s relatively low profile, the fact is that right now, it is one of Melbourne’s great under-appreciated restaurants. Everyone ought to be talking more about this spot, and this chef.

Here’s hoping that appreciation grows, and Fulchiati continues to do exciting things – and be recognised for the excellence he brings to this corner of Fitzroy North.