What’s Il Mercato?

An ambitious Italian food precinct with stallholders, dining areas and the capacity to hold events for the community and corporates.

The first Il Mercato opened in Florence 10 years ago. Sites in Rome, Turin, and Milan followed, with Il Mercato Centrale Melbourne being the first branch outside Italy.

Doors swing open at 4pm today at 546 Collins Street, between King and Spencer streets. The site is the art deco McPherson’s Building, dating to the 1930s.

What will I experience?

There are 23 stalls of local Italian artisan produce spread across two levels, with an event space on level three.

Look out for TikTok pizza star Valerio Violetti at La Pizza Napoletana; the man responsible for Melbourne’s burrata craze, That’s Amore’s Giorgio Linguanti, and his La Mozzarella stand; and bean-to-bar chocolate specialist Alessandro Luppolo, who is serving a dessert in which a warm chocolate brownie is topped with liquid nitrogen-frozen sorbet.

If you want to fill a shopping basket with fresh vegies, prosciutto and parmesan, you’re sorted.

And if you want to meet 10 of your besties for pizza, pasta and prosecco, you can do that, too.

How are the stallholders feeling?

They’re excited. “It’s about collaboration between artisans,” says chocolate maker Luppolo. “The place has a really Melbourne feel, grand and urban. It’s going to be great.”

There are already webs of connection between the concession holders, many of whom are established Melbourne brands.

“If I need fruit, I go to [Il Mercato’s greengrocer] Biviano and if someone needs a chocolate to sit beside their coffee, they come to me,” Luppolo says. “That’s the real core. There’s no competition, it’s all about community.”

Who is making this happen?

The founder is Florence-based hospitality entrepreneur Umberto Montano. He believes it’s important to respect and honour Italian artisan expertise, so Il Mercato is a celebration of specialties and craftsmanship, designed to be part of the city’s daily life.

He’s partnered with local businessman Eddie Muto, who was an early player in Southbank and South Wharf eateries.

Is Melbourne really waiting for this?

Let’s see. Melbourne isn’t short of places to buy and eat Italian food and the recent closures of continental deli King & Godfree (purportedly for renovation) and Italian goods specialist Enoteca Sileno suggest this isn’t an easy sector of the market to play in.

The three-level space has seating for 800 and capacity for 3000 people but it’s in the tricky western end of the city that no one visits for food shopping. By contrast, most of the Italian Il Mercatos are in locations that are already bustling, such as existing markets and central stations.

On the other hand, building a dining experience that moves from spritz to calamari to fresh pasta to gelato doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

Open Sun-Thu 7am-10pm; Fri-Sat 7am-midnight.

Il Mercato Centrale Melbourne, 546 Collins Street, Melbourne, mercatocentrale.com.au