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Bottega
Ph: 9654 2252; 74 Bourke St, MELBOURNE 3000 www.bottega.com.au
Italian, $$, * for Food & Ambience
Open Mon-Fri noon-3pm Mon-Sat 5.30-11pm; Licensed; AE DC MC V
Chef Rhys Phillips (5-12-08) Owner Denis Lucey, Kenneth Meere & John Tully (5-12-08)
Mietta's Review
From the team that brought us French inspired eatery Bistrot d'Orsay in Collins Street, comes its Italian incarnation- Bottega. Sandwiched between Italian stalwarts Pelligrini's and Grossi Florentino, the room is pleasant with a concertina view onto the top end of Bourke Street. Dishes are simple and well done, complimented by a thoughtful wine selection. It's a good spot for people watching during a long languid lunch, a business meeting or an intimate dinner.
Other published opinions
Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 14.5/20 "Bottega doesn't jump out at you; on first impressions, it's just another cookie-cutter Italian CBD bistro, albeit one with some comfy-looking booths, splashes of dark timber and etched glass"
Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * "It can happen at any time, usually when you're heading down Bourke Street. So strong is the urge for handmade tagliatelle with spanner crab blended with nettles (which makes the dish quite green but doesn't overpower the crab's sweetness), you have to make a bee-line for a comfy seat at Bottega"
Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 14.5/20 "A carpaccio of Wagyu beef with porcini mayonnaise and crisp wild French trompette mushrooms; spaghetti alla chitarra with smoked eel, chives and Avruga caviar"
Herald Sun Bob Hart, 7-04-07 "And now, with one of our most accomplished Italian chefs picking up the reins at the unpretentious and entirely admirable Bottega, just up from the Flo, things have taken a further leap. Riccardo Momesso was, until a few months ago, working the stoves at the eccentric vegaquarian CBD establishment SOS, where he turned out some remarkable food."
The Age John Lethlean, 2-4-2007 Score: 16/20 "It is comfortable, stylish, accessible and professionally run. Service is strong, the wine list is far more serious in recent years with a big Euro component and little improvements in the facilities are manifest at each turn - new '50s red leather carvers, Schott wine glasses, a piece of art. It suggests constant attention. ... And - get out your cliche detector - there is nothing on the list of starters and pasta I would not order. Quirky combinations and original thinking mean food that subtly surprises, and Momesso has the skills to execute his ideas."
The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 15/20 1 Hat "It's a competitive game, the restaurant shuffle, up the top of Bourke Street. And Bottega has risen to the challenge since the last Guide, elevating its menu to compete with some very handy local competition rather than being satisfied with solid, but seen-it-all before Italian standards."
Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide * "Bottega makes a welcome debut to our pages this year via a conspicuous effort to elevate the restaurant beyond the rustic bistro approach that characterised its early years. In fact, everything has been bumped up: service staff are particularly savvy, the wine emphasis stronger than before, and chef Daniel Schelbert has been given latitude to turn out original Italian-inspired food"
The Age A2 The Good Life Jane Faulkner 1/10/05 "Day or night, a seat at Bottega has a calming effect, even when the place is abuzz with the hum of contented diners. Maybe it's debonair front-of-house and co-owner Denis Lucey's presence and his team of smart, efficient and considerate waiters. That's definitely part of it. It's also the airy dining space, which has just undergone a tasteful interior makeover."
The Age Good Food Guide 2005 "Bottega is one good-looking place, where dynamic service and simple yet satisfying food hit the mark with metronomic regularity."
Age A2 Jane Faulkner 18/9/04 "Considering Bottega has a terrific wine list, good floor staff and an airy space to enjoy Italianinspired food, or a wellmade coffee ($3.50) anytime, no other inducement, literary or otherwise, is necessary."
'The Age Good Food Guide 2004 14/20
SMH, Good Living, 25/3/03, Matthew Evans
The Age, Epicure, Restaurants, John Lethlean, 4/2/03, Score 14.5/20.
Herald Sun, Sunday Magazine, 3/8/03, Dining, Graham Pearce, Score 7/10
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