Melbourne’s Trattoria Emilia does dishes from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region so deftly that it gives the motherland a run for its money, according to top chef Ben Shewry of Attica.

So, it’s exciting to see the team getting into the sandwich game with this week’s opening of Emilietta, which transforms the bar area of the CBD trattoria at lunchtimes.

But it’s not another panini or focaccia bar. Instead, it’s a tigelleria serving fluffy filled flatbreads, a lesser-known street food from Modena where chef Francesco Rota hails from.

“We actually tried to open this two years ago, just after COVID, but the restaurant reopened and [was very busy] unexpectedly.” While a version of the flatbread has been on Emilia’s menu, this dedicated concept has been on the backburner until now.

Each tigella – also known as a crescentina Modenese – is cooked to order on what Rota calls the “the Ferrari of tigelliere [machines]“, which was custom-made and imported from Modena. The result is a thin, circular bread that’s airy on the inside with a slightly crisp shell.

It’s the second Melbourne venue in the past month to put these Modenese snacks in the spotlight, the other being Fitzroy newcomer Enoteca Zingara.

While still warm, Emilietta’s breads are sliced in half to be stuffed with your fillings of choice. “What we use in the restaurant, we use out here,” says Rota. “It’s all top-quality stuff.”

The Mukka is a stacks-on affair of wagyu bresaola, stracciatella, 36-month-aged parmigiano reggiano from rare-breed Reggiano cows (“expensive but delicious,” Rota says), and truffle oil. For the prosciutto-crowned Raffinata, rather than shaving the parmigiano reggiano, it’s baked with semolina, thyme and rosemary to make an intensely flavoured crumble. And the Sarda is an ode to Sardinia involving aged pecorino sardo (a sheep’s milk cheese from the Italian island), ricotta cream, grilled artichokes and mint. The Tola Dolza is a decadent dessert tigella starring Nutella.

Emilietta is a bit more fun and freewheeling than its older sister, Trattoria Emilia, despite sharing the same space. During the day, the team gets around in bright-pink T-shirts – “the colour of our favourite meat: pork,” says Rota – and tigelle are served in bags emblazoned with the quintessentially Italian pinched-hands gesture.

Takeaway is the name of the game, but there are benchtops to perch on where you can also sip $10 glasses of prosecco and lambrusco – another Modenese import.

Open Tue-Fri 10.30am-3pm

1 Gills Alley, Melbourne, emilietta.com.au