Made in Casa restaurant review: Kara Monssen visits Malvern’s best kept Italian food secret

In a city not shy of great Italian food, a new suburban restaurant is making waves for its authentic “nonna style” pizza and pasta.

Made In Casa is just like visiting nonna’s house.

“Mama makes all of it”.

I half-expected this response from our teen waiter, as we are eating at a place called Made in Casa.

It’s pretty easy to tell when a restaurant makes its food from scratch.

An energy radiates from every mouthful. But very rarely can you pick it before first bite.

Malvern’s newest Italian joint is an exception to the rule.

As soon as we walk in, we feel at home.

The dollhouse-looking dining room, with sage-coloured floral wallpaper, had a lot to do with it, as does the crooning Italian soundtrack and the lemon-heavy fruit bowl on the front counter.

A blackboard chalked with the week’s specials and a crackling fireplace add to that “nonna’s house” charm.

Spinach and ricotta cappellacci.

Pancetta croquetta.

Husband and wife owners Valerio Violetti and Annapaola D’Alessio chose to stage their first restaurant in one of Glenferrie Rd’s two-storey red brick terrace homes – only adding to the allure.

It covers a lot of ground, seating 90 people across four rooms.

Made in Casa’s centrepiece, a mosaic-tiled wood fired pizza oven, is the only reminder of preceding Italian eatery Assaggi that ran out of puff last year.

Well-heeled Malvernites had to wait till April this year for their local Italian fix.

Made in Casa’s mussels in pizza dough.

Some may remember Annapaola from her pasta slinging days as Rosetta’s resident Sfoglina (fresh sheet-pasta maker), others may have seen Valerio’s viral TikToks spinning his pizza tricks.

The duo don’t have formal chef qualifications, but have many joy-spreading years cooking pizza and pasta in Rome, Saudi Arabia and Melbourne.

Made in Casa’s food doesn’t reinvent the wheel, though honours tradition, top-notch produce and tug-on-your-heartstrings, soulful cooking.

Made in Casa is Malvern’s best kept secret... until now..

Rummage through a paper conch for golden-fried salty sea snacks ($28) that’ll take you to the streets of Napoli.

Served in a paper cone, it shuffles crisp, lightly battered white bait, calamari, prawns, carrots and zucchini for a Euro-holiday for your mouth.

Maybe you’ll heap chilli and tomato slicked mussels ($28) served in an edible bowl made from pizza dough.

Not only does it unite both Valerio and Annapaola’s skills but is surprisingly light.

While we’re talking dough, I’m floating to heaven on one of those pizza bases: perfectly pillowy with enough integrity to support both sauce and toppings, the crusts wonderfully bubbly and blistered.

Choose from one of 10 classic or six modern flavours, including the Gricia ($31) which I learn too late is theatrically set alight tableside.

Or you can stick tradition.

Sheets of mortadella, gooey stracciatella and pistachio ($29) is my new favourite flavour combo.

The cappellacci ($38), ricotta and spinach stuffed parcels, with burnt butter needed more time in the pan to brown up.

Though one of Made in Casa’s superpowers is executing robust flavours and textures with a lightness – from its pasta and pizza.

The wine is also almost exclusively Italian and a collection of Valerio’s faves that don’t break the bank.

Was there anything I didn’t like? Aside from the tiramisu needing a firmer caffeine kick, not much. Service could improve, though I’m just annoyed I wasn’t told to order that flamin’ pizza. I’m sure that’ll get me back, but it won’t be the only reason.