A restaurant crew with a knack for creating loyal regulars is spreading the love from the suburbs to the inner city with their fourth restaurant, Lucia, now open in South Melbourne.

Following on from Riserva in Malvern East, Sandringham’s Baia Di Vino and San Lorenzo in Scoresby, Lucia is a spacious restaurant 10 minutes from central Melbourne with plush features suited to the steady tide of corporate diners that will flow in from the offices upstairs and nearby.

The food is less Italian and more Mediterranean than their other venues, but owners Anthony Silvestre and Frank Ciorciari are not letting go of their reputation for old-school, personable service, where staff remember which table diners prefer, their kids’ names and the wine they like.

“We thought our suburban restaurants were about bringing city dining to the suburbs. Now, I think we want to bring that suburban style of hospitality to the inner city,” says Silvestre.

Lucia bolsters the upmarket dining options in South Melbourne, joining newcomer Castlerose, also part of an upscale office building, and contemporary Korean wine bar James.

Here’s the scoop on what to eat, drink and know to get the most out of a visit to Lucia.

What’s the vibe?

With its soft furnishings and well-spaced tables, this is business-lunch heaven. But there’s enough personality in the staff and the collage-style artworks on the walls – featuring glam Italian images – to make it a viable option for recreational visits, too.

Where’s the best seat?

Don’t overlook the horseshoe-shaped bar, with 10 stools around an etched marble front and front-row views of the cabinet of raw seafood, from which generous platters of cured trout, king prawns, pickled Portarlington mussels, sea urchin and more are assembled.

Here you can order from a bar menu featuring said platter – and fried zucchini flowers, crab linguine, and the Lucia burger made with wagyu. Or from the main menu, if you’re settling in. The rest of the restaurant is a comfortable sea of linen-clothed tables, rust-coloured leather chairs, thick carpet and herringbone timber floors.

What should I order?

For the best snapshot of French-born chef Jordan Clavaron’s Mediterranean approach, go for plump prawns wrapped with a basil leaf in a light brik pastry that’s reminiscent of spring rolls, followed by crab linguine in bisque, and perhaps a whole flounder with beurre blanc sauce. Clavaron (ex-Cape, Cutler & Co, Society) grew up in a family of chefs – his father earned a Michelin star – but here his cooking style is more rustic than it would have been earlier in his career, at Joël Robuchon and Marcus Wareing’s restaurants in Paris and London.

Clavaron has developed an obsession with Australian ingredients, which he’s channelled into his lamb tartare. Bolder in flavour than your standard beef tartare, it works surprisingly well with the warming spices of dukkah scattered over the top.

What about drinks?

Do not pass go without ordering the two-sip negroni or, even better, the two-sip martini made with Never Never’s Oyster Shell Gin. After that, if the boss is paying, there’s a long list of barolo and burgundy. But if you’re not so lucky, the wine list is still your friend, with plenty of sub-$100 bottles.

Favourite detail?

This is a restaurant that’s all about the little details, from the rippled edges on the leather-bound wine list to the tiny jade-green bud vases on each table. But the custom-made linen jackets for the waiters, inspired by those in Venice (only a little more relaxed), are the winner.

Open Tue-Sat noon-late.

11 Eastern Road, South Melbourne, 03 9765 6444, luciamelbourne.com