Paolo Masciopinto and Salvatore Montella open Aromi Restaurant in Brighton
After working for some of the best Italian restaurants in Melbourne, two mates have opened their own eatery. Here’s a taste of what you can expect.
Inner South
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Paolo Masciopinto is excited about this week’s special.
It’s flounder cooked in an old wood-fire oven.
“I can’t wait to share it with customers,” Masciopinto said.
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It’s a dish that almost didn’t make it.
Masciopinto had planned to rip out the old oven and replace with a Josper when he first plotted his new venture — Aromi Restaurant in New St, Brighton.
“I had been cooking with a Josper at Sarti (CBD) and then Bar Carolina (South Yarra) so it made sense,” he said.
But a chat with mate Johhny Di Francesco of 400 Gradi changed his mind.
“He showed me different ways to cook with a wood-fired oven,” Masciopinto said.
“I now have these long grills that I can slide in to the oven. I can do anything on them. Steak, vegies, whatever.”
Decisions like that are part of the joy of having your own place, Masciopinto said.
“I can take my time. We are not turning over the tables. We can pay a lot of attention to detail and working with the customers.”
Masciopinto opened the 40 seat contemporary Italian restaurant on March 26 with fellow chef from Bar Carolina, Salvatore Montella.
Montella is working the floor, not the pans for the time being and the pair enlisted the help of Dinner by Heston sommelier Mattia Cianca to curate their wine list.
If you miss the flounder there are plenty of other tempting dishes on the menu including
Masciopinto’s signature — a tomato spaghetti with spanner crab and macadamias.
“We split the tomato into pulp and sauce. The pulp is incorporated into the pasta dough and the spaghetti is cooked in the tomato sauce,” Masciopinto said.
“The acidity from the tomato is cooked out and you are left with a lovely sweetness which works well with the spanner crab.”
There’s also plenty of snacks on offer to soak up after work drinks with morsels including gnocco fritto with smoked mozzarella and wagyu bresaola and roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with goats cheese and served with caper leaves and black garlic.
Aromi is at 312 New St, Brighton