4

clam juice). The handsome diavola
has slices of dry, hot salami, San
Marzano tomatoes and smoked
scamorza, with slivers of pickled
jalapeño adding colour and a faint
slow burn. The combination
matches well with the crust’s slight
vinegary, fermented flavour.
It’s all good drinking food
and there are plenty of good things
to drink. Another ex-McConnell
employee, the cheerful Mark
Williamson, is manager here, and
in charge of the list. He’s got the
modern family-friendly bistro brief
just right, both with the booze and
the service.
His cellar packs a lot of variety
into six pages. It’s Australian-biased
with the occasional sortie into

France and Italy. There’s good,

well-priced minimal intervention

stuff from the likes of SC Pannell,

Hochkirch and Ochota Barrels

alongside smooth French operators

such as Le Fou pinot noir and

Christophe et Fils Chablis. The

beer list leans local, too, with

everything Victorian except a few

outliers, including the complex,

soured Cleansing Ale from

Tasmania’s Two Metres Tall.

The menu has some heft to it,

too. Lamb meatballs, fragrant with

cumin, pack a little chilli heat that’s

tempered with the accompanying

risoni, cucumber, mint and yoghurt.

Meanwhile, the H&R version of

cacio e pepe, made with spaghetti

from local pasta maker Alligator,

is rich with egg yolks and a mix of

Grana Padano and pecorino. You’d

come back for it.

The tiramisù is also hefty. It’s

a classic of its kind – not too soggy

or boozy, the mix of Strega, dark

rum and vanilla Galliano keeping

the flavours firmly, safely Italian.

With its seasoned operators and

wine and food smarts, Harley &

Rose is a sure sign Melbourne’s

west is gentrifying. Since it’s

unpretentious, hospitable, tasty and

well-priced gentrification, surely it’s

the kind to get behind.●

Details

AND ALSO...

LATIN LOVING

The San Telmo and Pastuso team

are mining South American cuisine

again atPalermo, named after the

Buenos Aires neighbourhood. Former

Stokehouse chef Ollie Gould presides

over a parilla grill and an asado fire-pit

where lambs andsuckling pigs are

splayed upright to cook. There’s good

beef and seafood from the parilla, too.

The wine list favours malbec, while the

space has a palette of leather, marble

and brick, and an attractive smoky

scent.401 Little Bourke St, Melbourne,

(03) 9002 1600, palermo.melbourne

GREEN ZONE

Carlton, home to one of Melbourne’s

longest-running vegetarian restaurants,

Shakahari, now has a vegan and

vegetarian pub calledGreen Man’s

Arms. Israeli chef David Raziel’s menu

leaps continents, with chilaquiles

sharing space with falafel, an artichoke

and cauliflower mac and cheese, and

gnocchi tossed with red capsicum

pesto. There’s kombucha on tap,

and a good range of beer and wine

that leans local.418 Lygon St, Carlton,

(03) 9347 7419, greenmansarms.com.au

FIRE POWER

Brigitte Hafner has overhauled the

menu atGertrude Street Enoteca,

making use of a wood-fired oven and

a hibachi grill. The oven’s fired up each

morning and a dish, perhaps chicken

and chorizo with sherry and tomatoes,

is cooked all day. The coals are then

tipped into the hibachi where wagyu

short ribs, ox tongue (served with salsa

verde) or prawns with garlic and chilli

are grilled to order. The vitello tonnato,

meanwhile, has survived thechange

along with other greatest hits. 229

Gertrude St, Fitzroy, (03) 9415 8262,

gertrudeenoteca.com

Harley

& Rose

572 Barkly St,

West Footscray

(03) 8320 0325

harleyandrose.

net.au

Licensed

CardsAE MC V EFT

OpenTue-Thu

4pm-10pm, Fri-Sun

11.30am-10pm

PricesEntrées

$9-$15, main

courses $19-$37,

desserts $5-$16

Vegetarian

Five entrées, four

main courses

NoiseElevated,

bustling

Wheelchair

accessYe s

MinusThe

anti-gentrification

crowd won’t

be pleased

PlusFamily-

friendly with no

dumbing down

The outdoor seating

at Harley & Rose.

Left: tiramisù.

Below: pipi pizza.

Palermo

Melbourne review

GOURMET TRAVELLER 57