Werribee cafe Wolf on Watton is a beloved site for the area’s Salvalaggio family
A hip new Werribee eatery gives good reason to eat and drink locally, serving delicious coffee by day and DIY cheese and charcuterie boards at night. Here’s why Wolf on Watton keeps punters from visiting the pub, or the city, at the weekend.
Lifestyle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Coffee is the lifeblood of Werribee’s Salvalaggio family.
Nathan Salvalaggio and stepbrother James Pearce opened their day-into-night eatery Wolf on Watton in September on the same spot their nonna’s cafe, Trovarelli Coffee House, once stood.
Much like Trovarelli did in the ’70s, Wolf on Watton lures daytime punters with espresso (a tasty Five Senses’ Dark Horse Blend is on the machine), while at night it’s all about an Italian-leaning wine list and build-your-own cheese and charcuterie boards.
Private-chef-turned-kitchen-lead, Jess Allen (formerly of Melbourne’s Industry Beans) fills the void in between with dishes such as smashed avocado and ashed goats’ cheese on rye toast ($17.50) and dessert hybrid lemon myrtle panna cotta ($14), decorated with mandarin, toasted wattleseed granola and chia seed-sprinkled watermelon.
Elsewhere, the cuisine plays to the Salvalaggio’s Italian heritage with Mediterranean-inspired meals such as the pan-seared pumpkin gnocchi ($25) in a blue-cheese sauce with pine nuts. There’s also a mix of modern Australian classics that should please, including the half-kilo aged rib-eye with a red wine jus ($42), which, along with the gnocchi, forms part of the eatery’s new dinner service.
Or create your own grazing board by picking and mixing cheese and cured meats from a deli-style fridge (pay for each 45g piece or find value in a five-for-$50 option) and unwind with a vino from Italian-born Geelong sommelier Marco Senia’s affordable by-the-glass list.
For lunch there’s a more substantial 48-hour lemongrass beef rib ($19.50) that’s marinated in fragrant lemongrass and Japanese rice wine before being slow cooked until the meat is tender and falls from the bone.
The beef is then tumbled with brown rice and a sticky sweet-and-sour nam jim sauce and served in a heaped mound on the plate. Dig through the impressive pile and you’ll also find a refreshingly zingy salad of fermented wombok, bean sprouts and pickled cucumber.
On the other hand, the creole fried chicken burger ($17) lacks spice and any real flavour, with fine but forgettable golden-battered chicken thigh tenders that get lost between two white buttermilk buns with not enough green tomato relish and corn aioli.
While the optional bacon and cheese add-ons ($3) can’t save this burger, it’s an improvement on the original.
Served in lieu of fries, the ancient grain side salad is a real winner, teaming barley, quinoa and sunflower seeds in a pomegranate dressing.
Wolf on Watton uses Melbourne’s industrial-look cafe template for its interior, with polished concrete floors and vintage light globes.
MORE FOOD:
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK IN MELBOURNE’S WEST
HOW TO BUY AND COOK THE BEST SEAFOOD FOR CHRISTMAS
WHY THIS MEAT-FREE BURGER IS WORTH A TRY
Teal-coloured menus match the chairs as well as a striking forest green feature wall, while floor-to-ceiling glass doors at the back of the 127-seater peel open to a view of the gumtree-lined Werribee River and outdoor dining area which snakes around part of the eatery’s perimeter.
Wolf on Watton answers the suburb’s calls for a trendy spot to sip wine and snack without visiting the pub — or Melbourne.
While some food needs finessing, punters will still come for a platter in that rocking alfresco area, or perhaps a coffee that gets the family tick of approval.
WOLF ON WATTON
90A Watton St, Werribee