Previous SlideNext Slide

Cecconi’s still looks good in linen and leather: not bad for a restaurant pushing 20. The plush basement feels purpose-built for corporate lunches and the kinds of dinners where dessert might just arrive with a diamond ring.

Lights are low and the playlist is gently jazzy. Black-clad staff drape napkins and whisk cloths across tables. The team at work in the sparkling kitchen is similarly precise. Life’s not too short for them to stuff olives, not when the prosciutto filling and crunchy coating play so well with velvety olive mayonnaise.

In a lightly garlicky linguine, top-drawer prawns, mussels, scallops and clams are immaculately cooked. Veal cotoletta gets a lift from apple-savoy slaw, while a finale of watermelon granita and rockmelon sorbet sums up summer. No surprise this family-owned stayer has added an equally handsome Toorak location.