Mietta's Review
Down in the underbelly of the Mildura Grand Hotel, a set menu, an impressive wine list and casual Italian simplicity with flourishes of romance await you. Celebrity chef Stefano De Pieri is master of 'regional cuisine' with a total command of culinary traditions adjusted to local produce, including Murray cod, silver perch and yabbies. With a fixed price menu (currently $79 per person) the food choice is made for you, consisting of 5-6 courses, you can choose to see the carte, or prefer to be surprised, courses keep coming out until the diner protests in guilty resignation! Perhaps the meal will consist of a warm salad of scallops, stuffed zucchini flowers, a pasta, a meat dish and then chocolate tart. The small tables are arranged invitingly along a corridor that leads into a larger space decorated with an obviously personal collection of artwork. The service is attentive and appropriately down-to-earth and can expertly suggest wines to compliment your meal. Perhaps housed in the Mildura Grand but Stefano's style is not 'grand dining', it is delicious but not formal food. You will also be won over by an impressive wine list of Australia and Europe's best. Dining here is an absolute must, and definitely worth the trip.

Other published opinions

Gourmet Traveller 2010 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * "There's no doubt TV personality, environmentalist and celebrity cook Stefano de Pieri singlehandedly put Mildura on the culinary map. Testament to that is his restaurant beneath the Mildura Grand Hotel in a discreet space that once housed the cellar"

Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 16/20

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * "Peter Webley What's on the menu (which you receive after you've eaten) depends on Stefano de Pieri's whim. De Pier is a passionate advocate of Riverina produce, but also sources further afield"

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 16/20

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * * "Stefano de Pier is Mildura's favourite son, his presence felt subtly throughout town and keenly in his eponymous restaurant"

Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 17/20

Gourmet Traveller 2006 restaurant guide *** "Dynamic celebrity chef, author and arts patron Stefano de Pieri has expanded his epicurean empire to embrace a grill room, riverboat diner, cafe-produce store and microbrewery, but it is to the cavernous cellar beneath Mildura's Grand Hotel that people flock from afar for a gastronomic experience like no other."

Age Good Food Guide 2005 score 18/20

Gourmet Traveller 2005 Restaurant Guide *** "The subtly lit cellar ofthe Mildura Grand is an intimate setting for fine, ever-evolving, five-course northern Italian banquets."

The Foodies' Guide 2004,Allan Campion & Michele Curtis,'Service is smooth,the wine list exceptional and the whole experience a joy from start to finish.'

Age Good Food Guide 2004 3 hats,score 18/20

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, 3 Black Stars, Excellent wine list,'diners come from afar for his Italian-style, five-course, fixed-price banquets which, as the menu warns, are 'subject to the whim of the chef'. Fortunately his whims tend to be inspired by what's in season, and applied with Italian culinary virtues of simplicity and true-to-nature flavours.'

Herald Sun, citystyle, 30/12/03

Age,A2, 19/12/03, Jane Faulkner

Age Good Food Guide 2003

The Herald Sun, Weekend, Eat, Bob Hart, 17/8/02.

Age, Epicure, 21/8/01 Score 18/20

Herald Sun, 25/7/2000