Herald Sun food editor Kara Monssen rates Melbourne’s hot new Italian sandwich places

Melbourne’s levelling-up its lunch game with a spread of new Italian sanger shops opening across town. Our critic has reviewed them so you don’t have to.

Herald Sun food editor and critic Kara Monssen taste tests Melbourne’s newest panini spots — so you don’t have to.

The Panini, or grilled sandwich using traditional Italian bread, is having a power moment.

We’ve tried four of the Melbourne’s newest lunch spots — and one stalwart — so you don’t have to.

Zita's focaccia is a new sandwich shop that's opened in South Yarra

SOUTH

Zita’s focaccia

16 Toorak Rd, South Yarra

When did it open? January 2024.
What do they do? Focaccia sandwiches inspired by a recipe of owner Sara Pestarino’s grandmother.
Day, time visited:Friday 11.57am.
Queue? No, though one quickly formed after I started ordering.
Order wait time: 6.24 minutes.
Bread type: Focaccia Genovese.
Sanger count? 8.

Anything else? Add on deli meats, veg or cheese, or La Genovese (thin focaccia slices), cocktails.
Price range: $16-22.
What we ordered: Roman Empire; mortadella, pistachio and stracciatella PLUS Pollo alla cacciatore
Verdict? The bread is something to behold: shattery crisp outer shell, springy inners, comes to life when toasted. Fine sliced, plain mortadella sits on a double-whammy of pistachio cream and stracciatella. It’s far superior to the chicken cacciatore; which stands no chance of takeaway; the cooked-down sofrito on the cusp of burning like acid through the delicate focaccia, making for a smushy base to hold those chicken thighs and olives. Structurally it holds ... just.

Christian McQueen and his mum Louise at Rocco's Deli in Yarraville. Picture: Ian Currie

WEST

Rocco’s Deli

122A Roberts St, Yarraville

When did it open? 1977.
What do they do? Fresh Italian white rolls filled with deli meat.
Day and time visited: Friday 12.37pm.
Queue? None. 11 people waiting inside, many more outside. Plenty of phone orders and pick-ups.
Wait time for order: 11.26 minutes.
Bread type? White Vietnamese-style crunchy roll or ciabatta.
Price range: From $13.50. Extra veg and meat $1.50.
Sanger count? 1, the Rocco Roll.

The Rocco Roll.

Anything else? Here’s the drill: there is one roll up for customisation. Choose from either hot salami and prosciutto (the most popular combo) or add mortadella, ham, chicken, turkey and mild salami.

What we ordered: Rocco roll with hot salami and prosciutto.
Verdict?It’s a cross-cultural mash-up. Vietnamese-style bahn mi bread is soft within and holds a serious amount of fillings. Pesto-slathered, loaded with a deli pick and mix of Sicilian green olives, semi-dried tomatoes, eggplant, capsicum, provolone cheese and a whisper of rocket. That hot salami hummed with heat but nothing outrageous.

3 Salamis Essendon.

NORTH

3 Salamis

15 Napier St, Essendon

When did it open? March 2024.
What do they do? Cured meat sandwiches using Tuscan flatbread schiacciata.
Day, time visited: Saturday noon.
Queue? Two people long, about six people behind me.
Wait time for order: 7 minutes.
Type of bread used: Schiacciata, a Tuscan flatbread.
Sanger count? 10.
Anything else? Add extras, for a price including spreads (truffle, pistachio pesto to pecorino and hot chilli), standard or fancy meats, toppings, cheese and veg. Also arancini and cartocci (fried cannoli-shaped doughnut) piped with custard.
Price range: $14.

Napoli chicken cotoletta.

What we ordered: 3 Salamis: Casalingo salami, prosciutto, mortadella, green split olives, provolone, piccante, house-made red capsicum and spicy chilli spread. $18 PLUS Napoli: chicken cotoletta with capsicums, green split olives, pecorino spread and pickled green tomatoes.

Verdict? Both sangers were served fresh, including the cotoletta, which I would have expected to come hot from the fryer. The meat was dry, and the bread was a little rough around the edges, though this was my first schiacciata experience. It is a different texture unlike anything I’ve had in a sandwich. The pecorino cheese spread livened it up, though a “wetter” ingredient would have added moisture to what could have been a juicy sanger. Praise be to the pickled green toms. In the 3 Salamis, the spicy chilli sauce worked as a lively lubricant for the bulkier olives. Both were generous with fillings.

Emilietta Tigelleria sandwiches. Picture: Atti.Co

CBD

Emilietta Tigelleria

1 Gills Alley, Melbourne

When did it open? May 7, 2024.
What do they do? Sandwiches made with popular Emilia-Romagna street food Tigella. Instead of making a flatbread with pork fat and flour, the round wholemeal bread is vegan.
Day, time visited: Thursday, 1.50pm.
Queue? No.
Wait time for order: 2.49 minutes.
Type of bread used: Tigella.
Sanger count? 7.

Anything else? They do coffee, Italian soft drinks and beers, plus prosecco and lambrusco (sparkling red wine). Price range: $16-$18.
What we ordered: Mukka: wagyu bresaola with stracciatella, truffle oil, 36-month-old Parmigiano reggiano.
Verdict? In and out in under five minutes. Served in a foil bag to retain heat on the trip back to the office. It didn’t hold up, so a quick blast under the grill helped. A posh sanger. Small for the price but you’re paying for the ingredients: fancy beef ham wagyu bresaola, truffle oil, aged parmesan and stracciatella. Rich and indulgent, without pushing you over the edge. Left a furry feeling in my mouth.

Piccolo is generous with its fillings.

EAST

Piccolo Panini Bar

636 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn

When did it open? April 2024.
What do they do? Classic Italian panini.
Day, time visited: Thursday 11.20am.
Queue? 2 people, 10 people waiting outside.
Wait time for order: 10.28 minutes.
Type of bread used: Rustica’s focaccia.
Sanger count? 6.

Anything else? Add on extra crumbed chicken, deli meats, cheese, veg, chilli oil or spreads and sauces at a cost. There are espresso coffee, soft drinks, Italian juices and softies, cannoli and croissants.
Price range: $13-$16, plus add-ons start at $1.5 and go up to $6.
What we ordered: Cotoletta: crumbed chicken, rocket, pickled onions, salsa verde and capsicums and chilli oil (add on, as suggested).

PLUS Mortadella, hot honey, stracciatella and pistachio.
Verdict? Huge portions, piled high with fillings and then some. Praise be, a hot chicken sandwich. The focaccia isn’t toasted, but having a warm filling made the experience. The sweet capsicums and spicy chilli oil added a new dimension.

The hot-honey addition to the mortadella was sweet, not spicy, but gave a liberally filled sanger some oomph. Bang for buck.