Fratelli Fresh | Melbourne

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the newly opened Fratelli Fresh, a fine dining Italian restaurant located below The Cut Steakhouse . Fratelli Fresh opened it’s first Melbourne venue with 6 other venues all located in Sydney.

Fratelli Fresh is all about simplicity and the use of fresh produce. Their menu is extensive as are their portions (very generous). I’m definitely not exaggerating on the generous portions – I left feeling so full I had to walk from one end of Bourke St to the other and extremely grateful that I wore a dress that night.

We started the night with sharing Focaccia di Recco, Cheese filled Flatbread Stracciatella and Thyme. The flatbreads were crisp and the oozy cheese centre made it moreish – I would have been happy to just feast on the flatbread the entire night and not eat anything else!

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Following the cheesey flatbread, we each had a small plate of Australian Artisanal Cured Meats with grilled pieces of sourdough. I happily devoured the divine prosciutto and spicy salami slices!

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My favourite entree/starter of the nigh was Fratelli Fresh’s Zucchini Flower stuffed with 5 Italian Cheeses. Whilst I can’t recall the 5 cheeses, I can distinctively remember the strong blue cheese laced through the other cheeses that was stuffed in the fresh zucchini flower that’s been lightly battered and fried. The zucchini flower did not feel overly greasy at all. I could have eaten 3-4 on my own!
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The next dish we had was the fresh Tomato Salad – Vine ripened tomatoes with mozzarella di Bufala drizzled with basil oil. This dish was the perfect dish after a few heavier dishes – the freshness of vine ripened tomatoes and firm buffalo cheese was a match made in heaven.
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We shared a bowl of Bitter Greens – Shaved Vegetable – Red Wine & Anchovy Vinaigrette, I didn’t think I would appreciate this salad, however it was the red wine and anchovy vinaigrette that truly hit the note. It was the strong anchovy vinaigrette that brought the bitter greens to life.
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There was some Mount Zero Olive – Fennel & its Pollen dishes for us to snack on in between dishes.

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Please note that the following main dishes are sample size dishes only – this was to give us the opportunity to sample a variety of the dishes that Fratelli Fresh has to offer.

The first main dish for the night, and also my favourite was the Chilli & Scampi Paccheri – Large Tube Pasta – Tomato – EVOO. The large tube pasta was cooked al dente and served with the freshest scampi and cherry tomatoes. When this dish was served, the waitress also brought out chilli oil and chilli flakes for the spice lovers. As I’m a spice lover myself, I doused the dish with a good splash of chilli oil and sprinkle of chilli flakes and it made this dish truly special.

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The second main dish was the spinach & ricotta ravioli – tomato passata, basil, evoo the ravioli was also cooked al dente and I love the spinach and ricotta filling – it was creamy but not heavy at all. The tangy tomato passata went perfectly with the ravioli.

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The last main dish was the Black Cod al Cartoccio – Cooked in Paper – Artichoke, Lemon – Olives – White Wine. I’ve seen fish cooked in paper for a long time on cooking shows, but never had the chance to try it myself. Whilst I was extremely full at this stage, I would definitely go back for this dish. The black cod was cooked perfectly and was beautifully flavoured thanks to the artichoke, lemon, olives and white wine that was encased together during cooking.

We were also generous amounts of sides including Broccolini with garlic and anchovy Crumbs and amazing herbed roast potatoes.

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To finish the night, we filled our stomach once more with dessert and tea/coffee. We each received a tiramisu served in a cup, cinnamon and sugar donuts and freshly churned gelato. I had some green tea to help with my digestion.

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