Il Fornaio

Ph: 9534 2922; 2 Acland St, ST KILDA 3182 www.ilfornaio.net.au

Bakery-cafe, $$ -, * for Food & Ambience
Open 7 days 7am-5pm, Closed Xmas Day; Licensed; AE DC MC V EFT
Chef Kieran Kilmartin & Matthew Smith (7-11-07) Owner John & Frank Van Haandel, Glenn Tobias, Warren Guest (7-11-07)

Mietta's Review
An urban, industrial interpretation of the local bakery, with a licensed cafe that sprawls across two levels whose tables and chairs are occupied by actors, designer types and St. Kilda's beautiful. The product is abundant and very good, from the soups to the loaves of olive bread, to the chilli + cheese bickies and the coffee. Service is attentive and very pretty. There is a kitchen menu offered also for breakfasts through to dinner.

Other published opinions

The Age Cheap Eats 2009 "Il Fornaio, the oven', has been a bakery benchmark for more than a decade. An industrial kitchen behind a chain-mail curtain keeps the glass cabinet well-stocked with pizza squares (laden with mushrooms, ham and olives), creamy savoury custard quiches (studded with tomato and bacon curls, with rocket and relish on the side) and cakes"

The Age Cheap Eats 2008 "Youngest of the Prince royal family, this bakery has grown into a versatile cafe: shimmering with candlelight in the evening and brimming with pooches and prams at brekkie"

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 12/20 "With its streetside aspect down the leafy end of Acland Street, a sleek concrete-and-steel interior and a reputation for well-executed, casual food, Il Fornaio is almost guaranteed to pull in a keen, fashionable crowd"

The Age Cheap Eats 2007 "Part of the Prince complex, Il Fornaio's relaxed vibe encourages its punters to linger over good lattes or a glass of vino, be it inside the cavernous, industrial-chic cafe, or outdoors with pups tethered to the rail."

The Age Cheap Eats 2006 Locals haunt this warehouse-style bakery-cafe from sun-up to sun well down ... More substantial (and pricey) meals such as pappardelle with braised rabbit are available after dark. Service varies from switched-on to slapdash.

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 13/20 "By day, il Fornaio is St Kilda's beloved bakery, where luscious loaves and flaky pastries have sustained locals and tourists alike for the past eight years. After dark the lights are dimmed and, somehow, the industrial steel and concrete interior transforms into an intimate dinner spot. On balmy evenings, creative types sit pavementside talking art and fashion, or retreat inside to leopard print banquettes."

The Age Good Food Guide 2005 "They churn out terrific all-day snacks and casual lunches (a limited version of night-time offerings), kick into high speed for dinner and are then cranked up overnight to produce excellent rustic breads and divine pastries for the breakfast trade."

The Age Cheap Eats 2005 "BY day, this cavernous concrete space, softened by a wall-sized canvas and dark chiffon drapes, is packed with punters sipping lattes and scoffing scrambled eggs"

The Age Cheap Eats 2004 "BAKERY, cafe and restaurant in one, the indefatigable Il Fornaio kitchen turns out good things from dawn until well after dusk. The sparse industrial space (high ceiling, concrete floor) is bustling early with St Kilda regulars enjoying scrambled eggs or pastries"

The Age Cheap Eats 2004,Excellent breakfasts,Somewhere we highly recommend,'Bakery,cafe and restaurant in one,the indefatigable IL Fornaio kitchen turns out good things from dawn until well after dusk...At night,Il Fornaio is a candlelit restaurant serving more expensive but excellent mains'

AGFG 2004, score 13/20, excellent breakfast, two courses for $25 or less

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, Good vegetarian options,'This popular no-frills restaurant, just off colourful, cosmopolitan Fitzroy st, is also one of the best bakeries in town...interesting light lunches and safe but well-executed dinners...Service is friendly'

Herald Sun, citystyle, 3/2/04, Donna Coutts, Score 16/20,'Standard bakery food I can't fault, despite the salt. Get off Fitzroy St and get a slice of the celebrity lifestyle.'

Vogue Entertaining & Traveller, March April 2003

Herald Sun, sunday magazine,2003, Sally Fisher

The Sunday Age, The 2003 Rugby World Cup, Jane Faulkner

The Sunday Age, Eat Streets, 14/7/02

The Age, 15.01.02, Matt Preston

Food Service News, 01.11.97, Zig Luge