When it comes to Italian food in Australia, our tastes tend towards food from the south of the boot. But Chris Lucas is about to introduce us to the delights of northern delicacies.

Grill Americano is a Northern Italian-inspired steakhouse, with the menu championing steak and seafood cooked over the grill. There will also be handmade pastas, slow-cooked braises and nostalgic classics, such as oysters Americano which is a reimagining of that 70’s favourite, oysters thermidor.

Lucas and executive chef Douglas Keyte (Hellenika) have crafted a menu that celebrates three types of traditional Italian cooking: charcoal, woodfired and steam.

To show they mean business, the custom-built woodfire oven has come all the way from Naples and like most modern grill kitchens, there’s a Josper Charcoal Grill.

The menu is a big one and is made for sharing, so grab a group of friends to make the most of it. Start with focaccia served with house made green olive butter and an assortment of cicchetti (the Venetian name for snacks) like arancini bolognese with pea puree and reggiano.

Pasta is handmade each morning by Simone Giorgianni. Thick ribbons of pappardelle come with slow-cooked Wagyu beef and porcini ragu, bright saffron tagliolini are served with scampi, lemon and bottarga while garganelli are garnished with a fresh basil pesto di fagiolini.

The secondi (mains) is where the grill cooking comes into its own.
The White Rocks saltimbocca alla Romana us grilled while the pork belly is done in the wood oven.

The comprehensive Bistecca (steak) selection is a carnivore’s delight. Whatever your preferred cut, whether on or off the bone, it’s finished with a brush of lemon, olive oil and rosemary – just as it would be in Italy. Our pick is the specialty Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a ridiculously thick cut T-Bone that’s the stuff of Tuscan legend.

Seafood is also given the firey treatment, there’s a meaty 450g grilled T-bone swordfish and scampi alla Veneziana, WA scampi wood oven roasted on saffron pilaf.

Leave room for dessert, because Michaela Kang (Bread Club) is plating up a towering Americano vanilla meringata and profiterole con nocciole (hazelnuts) poured with warm chocolate sauce.

Like all of Lucas’ restaurants, it’s not just about the food. Drinks, interiors and service will also come with a side serve of style.

There’s a 2000+ bottle cellar and an extensive Coravin program, plus signature cocktails that celebrate Italian spirits. The house version of the famed Americano is served with a chocolate-dipped mandarin and the Bellini Americano is made with fresh white peach, elderflower, vermouth and prosecco.

Interior designer Samantha Eades (Chin Chin, Carlton Wine Room) has created a sumptuous, Venetian clubhouse feel, with deep blue studded banquettes, terrazzo paving and a 14-metre marble bar.

Service will be white-gloved and tableside finishes, such as a drizzle of organic Piemontese chestnut honey on 36- and 48-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano, will add to the theatrics.

“Grill Americano is my way of continuing to reinvigorate Melbourne’s dining scene and pioneer the city’s rebirth. It’s the careful consideration and culmination of each element that will keep guests coming back time and time again, embedding itself in its dining tapestry as the city reopens to the world,” Lucas says.

Grill Americano
112 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000
(03) 8616 8010
grillamericano.com
@grillamericano