Next week, restauranteur Scott Pickett will swap out his Collingwood fine diner Saint Crispin in favour of an easy-going Italian joint called Lupo. “As I get older, I get more relaxed and just want to have a bit of fun in a restaurant,” Pickett said. “I think to myself, where’s the kind of place that I would want to go on a Sunday night with my friends and family? Somewhere where there’s great pasta, excellent wine and it’s easy to have a good time. That’s Lupo.”

Lupo will ditch the structured Italian format for a selection of small plates, pastas and risottos, which can be ordered individually or shared communally. The meal will start with tasty tidbits like the silky sardines doused in lemon olive oil and crunchy finger toasts layered with spicy ‘nduja and anchovies and build up to heartier offerings like the spanner crab lasagne with basil and sunrise lime. “It will just be anything goes – if you want to share it’ll be really easy.”

Sophisticated strands will be the star of the menu, with pasta bowls peppered with ingredients from the Australian larder. “It’s essentially a Melbourne take on Italian pasta,” Pickett said. Diners will be able to twirl their forks around squid ink linguine covered in shaved bottarga or tuck into hare cappelletti tossed through with celeriac and mustard fruits.

Like the food menu, desserts will be a modern interpretation of classic Italian sweets. “We’ve been looking at some of these traditional flavour combinations and thinking about how we can do them in a new way,” Pickett said. The star of the menu will be a tiramisu ‘sandwich’, which will see two savoiardi-pressed biscuits pumped with mascarpone cream and coffee-aerated meringue. Scott also has plans to add a lemon myrtle cannoli dusted with wattleseed to the menu.

While the atmosphere may be easy-going, inside the kitchen you’ll find chefs of the highest calibre. Pickett has put together an expert team which includes Saint Crispin head chef Stuart McVeigh who will step into the role of executive chef and new head chef Charlie Watson, who has come across from Matilda. The trio have all done time at Michelin-starred restaurant, the Square in London.

Saint Crispin sommelier Tristan Vinson will remain in position at Lupo. His new wine list highlights small-batch producers, in particular Australian-made wines using Italian varietals. Comprised of 120 pours, the list will offer 20 wines by the glass which will change up regularly, as well as half bottle options. Cocktails will include five elevated classics and five house concoctions, with highlights including a barrel-aged negroni made with an Australian Campari.

Restaurant Lupo is slated to open at 300 Smith Street, Collingwood on June 4. The venue will be open for lunch Fri- Sun from 12pm – 3pm and dinner Mon – Sun from 6pm. For more details or to book, head to luporestaurant.com.au.