Dining in a deli – or a space adjoining one – isn’t novel in Italy. But it’s half the charm at Mortadeli’s pasta bar in Torquay and Enoteca Boccaccio in Balwyn, above family-run grocer and wine store Boccaccio Cellars. It’s the pull factor at newcomer Prova, too, which takes over a Thornbury pasta shop with pedigree at weekends.

“It’s not a trend, it’s a necessity,” says Marco Finanzio, who’s behind Prova and the pasta shop, Pastificio Sandro, as well as long-running favourite Umberto Espresso Bar.

“It diversifies the offer and shows people what we can do with what they can buy.”

On Friday and Saturday nights, a charcoal linen curtain is drawn across the shop’s High Street frontage and visitors enter – “in very Melbourne fashion” – from the back laneway.

Instead of shopping for house-made fresh pasta and fancy vinegar, they sit down to a six-course set menu of polished, provenance-driven dishes, delivered to just 14 diners at a time. It’s a splash of finesse for a strip of the inner north that excels at casual dining.

Whether you’re perched at the table used by day for pasta-making or beside the fridges whose lights are dimmed to set the mood, head chef Adrian Bressanutti (ex-Stokehouse) delivers each dish and the story behind it.

A cheffier ode to a soup his nonna used to make involves a chicken brodo (broth) that’s clarified, then glammed up with parmesan foam and “very special” Kyneton olive oil. Bottoni, a button-shaped ravioli-like filled pasta he makes with chestnut flour, bob in the soup.

The wild barramundi on your plate, wrapped in rainbow chard and finished with leek veloute and oyster emulsion, was likely caught that morning. Mortadella (made by Fabbris in Campbellfield) is folded, coiled onto a skewer and flame-grilled on the hibachi with a glaze of honey and fermented chilli.

The $125-a-head menu will change “seasonally and sporadically”, with an overhaul every few months, or to match a wine that group beverage manager Andrew Barry is particularly excited about. Right now, unexpectedly, a barbaresco pairs with dessert – a pear poached in nero d’avola, with chocolate mousse and olive oil.

Open Fri-Sat 6pm-late

Back laneway, 822 High Street, Thornbury, pastificiosandro.com.au/prova