Pepe's Italian & Liquor, Melbourne CBD

We were delighted that our night out for dinner and a play started with a wonderful meal at Pepe's Italian and Liquor.  A fun winter ski chalet theme welcomed us with a sleigh in the courtyard and snowshoes at the door. 

The heiritage building that is now Pepe's in Melbourne's city centre has seen many changes since it was built in 1859, a mere 14 years after John Batman that this would be a place for a village, with no care about what the place already meant to the Aboriginal people who lived there.  It was one of Melbourne earliest Synagogues and has been a Jewish School, a State School and a kindergarten since then.  It was designed by the same architects that designed the nearby Victorian Parliament House.
 

Most buildings in Melbourne Central Business District open directly onto the footpath.  Pepe's would catch my eye as I rode home from working in the city because it has a delightful courtyard in the front with trees and fairy lights.  It always looked welcoming but pricey.  The night we were there was a drizzling early Spring day and we opted to eat inside.

As we enter Pepe's, we are delighted by the cosy warm apres-ski vibe.  Retro Winter Olympics banners hand from the rafters.  Old wooden skis, cowbells and the occasional stag head adorn the walls.  We are led to seats at the bench along the wall that is scattered with large fluffy cushions that look made for hugging.  The bar along the opposite wall is warmly lit while the photos covering the windows simulate the views of snowy mountains.  It is delightful.  We love our corner seat with a view of it all.

The gorgeous artwork of skiers on the menu spells out Pepe's in the tracks in the snow.  Inside it has a note saying "If you want it to snow, please ask Jo".  I don't know what it meant - perhaps we missed the opportunity to ask Jo - but it amused us!  We had plenty of vegetarian options in the antipasti, pasta, pizza and side dish sections.

The beverage menu was named the Italian Chalet and Liquor.  The introduction invites us to "Step into our 150-year-old brick and timber chalet, mysteriously transported from the Dolomites to Melbourne’s streets. Our winter wonderland awaits..."  The cocktails had fun names like the Olympic Torch, Jamaican Bobsled, and Pistachio Polar Bear.  The ingredients also looked really interesting: Gingerbread cocnac, Hazlenut maple syrup, Black walnut bitters, Rhubarb vermouth, and activated charcoal.

I was really happy that there was a page called "Pepe's non-alcoholics" with alcohol free mocktails, spirits, wine and beer as well as the usual soft drinks.  I was tempted by the NON 3 toasted cinnamon and yuzu wine.  Then I ordered a glass of Cos-No: Lyre’s London Spirit, cranberry, rhubarb bitters, and lime ($16).  It was nice but smelled like a cleaning product.  As it is decades since I drank cocktails, I could not say how it compared to the alcoholic Cosmopolitan that it was imitating.  Despite the smell, the taste was nice and fruity and not too sweet.  Importantly, I did not feel I will missing out on the cocktails as I sipped at my colourful drink in a cool glass.  Sylvia had an apple juice.  

Then our meal arrived.  The plates hardly fitted on our table but we were really happy to see the spread.  Each dish was lovely but together they were amazing.  It was a great balance of carbs, vegetables, textures, flavours and colours.  Even the plates were beautiful.  Here is what we ate:

House baked focaccia ($14.5): This was the best focaccia I have ever had.  When it arrived it smells so wonderfully fresh baked that it was hard to even wait to take a photo.  It was a small thick loaf with a slightly charred crust and a soft and chewy crumb.

Beetroot carpaccio: smoked cashew cheese, pomegranate  (vg) $22.5.  This was a vegan take on a beefo carpaccio.  The thin pickled beetroot slices were amazing when mixed with the smoked cashew cheese and nuts.  (We checked and there were no peanuts.)  It also looked so beautiful.  The only problem was that there was only a small blob of cashew cheese under the slices and I wanted so much more.  It was so good!

Spicy rigatoni vodka: tomato, onion, Calabrian chilli ($34).  This pasta dish was lovely with a delicious creamy tomato sauce that was not too spicy.  This is the sort of dish I would not find very satisfying by itself but was fantastic with all the side dishes.

Insalata di farro: ancient grains, broccoli, zucchini, snowpeas, edamame, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, mixed leaves ($26).  I had initially considered having this as a main dish but it was really a side dish.  Despite its promise of grains in the title, there were not many grains in the salad.  This excellent salad of a variety of leaves, lightly cooked green vegetables and crunchy seeds had a perfect dressing, was beautiful to look at and made the other dishes sing.

We had two desserts.  Sylvia ordered the Bombolini al pistacchi: 5 warm Italian donuts, crema al pistachio ($16.5).  I wanted chocolate so I ordered the Rocher de chalet: 2 hazelnut ganache, praline, cremeux, chocolate shell ( $19).  The doughnuts were amazing sugar coated fried balls with creamy green filling.  My dessert looked cute but inside the crisp chocolate shells was an odd creamy filling with nuts mixed in and a hazelnut paste that did not appeal to me.  I put it aside and enjoyed the superb doughnuts.

This was such an amazing experience that was worth a hefty price tag!  The service was excellent.  The wait staff were prompt and friendly.  Our request to move our booked seating to a corner table was no problem and when I mentioned to a waiter that I did not like the chocolate dessert she responded graciously that some people loved it and others didn't.  With delightful food and a cosy vibe, it was no surprise that by the time we left, the place was buzzing.

Pepes Italian and Liquor
275-285 Exhibition Street, Melbourne CBD
Open: Mon: 4pm til late, Tues-Sun: noon til late
https://pepesitalian.com.au

More places for pre-show meals on Green Gourmet Giraffe:

• Flora Indian Restaurant and Bar 
• Gopals 
• Lane's Edge Cafe and Bar  
• Maha  
• Udon Izakaya Maedaya