After a quick nip and tuck, Benito's, in Melbourne's legal district, has reopened as Massi Vecchia Osteria e Cafe.
Chef-restaurateur Joseph Vargetto has installed a Ferrari-red meat slicer on the bar, lined up Campari bottles on the shelves and hung striking Fornasetti wallpaper on one wall.
The single-room space, a few steps up from Little Collins Street, now seats 50, including 14 around the bar and 30 at a combination of booths and tables.
The slicer is put to use on salumi such as jamon serrano, bresaola and mortadella. There's a changing array of antipasti and pasta dishes, including ricotta gnocchi with salted speck and truffle cream, several steaks with classic sauces and a tight list of local and Italian wines.
Soon Vargetto will add simple Italian-style breakfast dishes (coffee, bomboloni, schiacciata flatbread stuffed with scrambled egg), Sicilian street snacks in the early evenings and dinner on Saturdays. But for now it's strictly Monday to Friday.
Open Mon-Fri noon-3pm; Wed-Fri 6pm-late.
445 Little Collins Street, Melbourne 03 9670 5347, www.massi.com.au
