Pepe’s serves New York Italian in Melbourne CBD
The pepperoni pizza is eat-the-crusts tasty and there’s a whopping sundae you’ll need to save space for — this uncomplicated Italian city spot brings 1940s New York style to Melbourne.
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It’s one of the hottest food trends in New York right now: “Roni cups”.
As iconic as Lady Liberty and long used as shorthand for a snapshot of the city, the classic pepperoni pizza has turned into a trend thanks to small, thick slices of pepperoni taking over the classic large disc-sized sausage.
These small slices curl into crisp, char-edged cups upon cooking, the spicy juice collecting at the bottom offering explosive bursts of meaty oil doubling down on the cheesy tomato base.
You’ll find a pretty excellent version at Leonardo’s Pizza Palace in Carlton, but if you’re after a more classic pepperoni executed with class, head to Pepe’s.
On a base at once crunchy and fluffy and eat-the-crusts tasty, the good-sized pie is all charry, cheesy, meaty moreishness, the salami joined by a trio of cheeses (scamorza, fior di latte and finished with parmesan) to create a hot mess of wipe-your-chin joy.
What was the 12-year-old Trunk diner in the city has been transformed into Pepe’s Italian and Liquor, swapping its broad Med/Middle Eastern menu for 1940s Noo Yawk, and while the large beer garden out front remains one of this end of town’s summer sipping hot spots, inside is now an Italo-American Deco delight.
Under a large mural of sunbathing beauties, burgundy banquettes run the perimeter of the space, black bentwood chairs sit on the red-and-white chequered floors, while behind the 13m-long zinc-topped bar hundreds of backlit-bottles beckon.
That extensive collection of booze (which includes a huge gin selection) is transformed into a dozen (full sized) martinis and two dozen classic and contemporary cocktails, the cellar filled with Italians from there and grown here.
Bottles roll through budget (Fat Bastard chardonnay, $45) through blowout (Henschke Mount Edelstone, $395) with loads of good drinking sub $60 – though there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the refreshingly zippy house King Valley arneis for $8 a glass.
It’s a particularly happy match with the signature clams Casino that are all sorts of buttery, garlicky breadcrumby goodness.
Done in much the same way as an oyster Kilpatrick, firm and meaty diamond clams are baked on the shell with garlic and guanciale (like pancetta but from the jowl) and topped with breadcrumbs ($23). They are very good.
Decked out in ’50s diner garb of red aprons and bow tie/neckerchief, staff are great.
Genuinely friendly and hospitable, such touches as offering to hang coats show a welcome and surprising eye for detail, while checking on exit times on seating show experience with dealing with the pre-theatre crowd that, over the school hols, featured loads of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory families among the eclectic room (older couples, young professionals, tourists sent by their hotel’s concierge) who pack the joint pumping.
It’s loud, but not ear-shatteringly so.
Portions are as big as the comically oversized menu: see a huge puck of tartare, the roughly chopped beef served in DIY fashion with its seasonings (capers, onion, shallots, cornichon) to mix to taste. Latticed potato crisps are on scooping duties to complete a classic executed with style ($23).
Ditto the spaghetti meatballs, one of eight “macaroni” dishes. Up there with the world’s ultimate comfort foods, here three smallish pork and veal herb-flecked meatballs come in a terrific Napoli sauce that’s bright and sharp.
With a selection of fresh, pickled and pesto’d chillies of varying heats and a choice of freshly grated pecorino and parmesan to scatter across, it’s a completely satisfying plate ($26).
Six fat tortellini come filled to bursting with sweet buffalo ricotta, the plump pillows served on a bed of OK bolognese that lacks bubbling-for-hours love but is otherwise another very easy to like dish ($26).
There’s soup (minestrone) and salads (waldorf, Caesar) and salumi (served with pickles and focaccia) before bigger dishes that include a $33 eye fillet with béarnaise and onion rings, and pollo alla diavola (devil’s chicken, $26.50).
But it’s the monster veal parmigiana – served complete with its crunchy-crumbed bone to the side for gnawing – that many will plump for. It’s another well-executed tender, tomatoey, cheesy plate-hugger ($42) and with a side, perhaps buttery braised beans with flaked almonds ($11), makes for a keenly priced main for two to share.
And you’ll definitely need two or more to tackle the ridiculous sundae that’s a kid’s dream/diabetic’s nightmare.
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Piled high with ice cream, wafers and nougat, topped with fairy floss and served with a jug of hot choc fudge to the side, it’s a family feast of sugary treats that gives little Charlie Bucket at Her Maj a run for his money ($18).
It’s uncomplicated food that’s easy pleasing, the menu certain to appeal to the many making it great for groups and families. Old school New York mixed with new world Melbourne style? That’s amore.
PEPE’S ITALIAN AND LIQUOR
Address: 275 Exhibition St, Melbourne. pepesitalian.com.au
Open: Mon-Fri from noon; Sat-Sun from 3pm
Go-to dish: Veal parmigiana
Score: 14/20