The menu is a choose-your-own-adventure of uncomplicated Italo classics, executed with detailed precision. Snacks are never a bad way to start; do as the menu suggests and try the trippa fritta. Tender slivers of braised tripe are encased in a crispy fried batter and simply served with lemon.

Pizzas are split into five red sauce and five white pillowy crusted, thin-based, uncluttered Neapolitan-style slices that run the gamut from Margherita and capricciosa to the slightly less humble lobster with lardo and housemade fior di latte. The woodfire oven lends smoke, char and crust to more than pizza. Crystalline prawns emerge from the embers atop chickpeas both in velvety puree and crispy fried form, garnished with a sweet, smoky chilli. 

Carlton has no shortage of Italian commitment to good food, good wine and good times, but what sets this place apart is a clear and confident sense of identity and a top-tier swagger all its own.

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