Brunswick Street Alimentari: 251 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, 9416 2001
My score: 3.5/5
There are those who don’t appreciate homestyle food in restaurants. Why would I go out for food I can cook myself, goes the thinking. I get that. I love the ‘wow, I could never do that at home’ mode of eating out. But I also welcome the old-slipper cosiness of eating a meal that yes, you could do at home, but really, would you make it so nice, and would someone else bring it to you, and would they do the washing up afterwards?
Alimentari has been on Brunswick Street since 1998, doing homely breakfasts, comforting lunches and great deli goods with strong Italian leanings. It’s still owned by original owner Linda Malcolm. Sadly, her co-founder Dolores Napolitano passed away last year. Malcolm runs the place with her husband, chef Paul Jones (and they’ve just opened a night-time place, Gorski & Jones in Smith Street). Alimentari’s rear dining room, opened in 2009, eases the crush in the shopfront where a laden display fridge is stocked (and re-stocked throughout the day) with salads, bakes, fritters and more. The all-fresh ethic is reinforced by the fact that favourite wraps – chicken schnitzel, pork-and-veal meatball – routinely sell out before lunch is over. Of course, that just makes them taste better if you snaffle one.
It’s a congenial setting with a vintage continental vibe that’s so successful you could squint and imagine the path outside is busy with shepherds and goats not Fitzroy hipsters a-hunting. For regulars, the place is a kind of an alimentation ambulance because it’s got them out of a fix so many times, so many ways. Hangover breakfast at 2pm: saved by scramble and take-no-prisoners coffee. Pressed sandwich for lunch: shopping appetite sated. A grab-bag of goodies to go: you turn up as the picnic’s saviour, laden with gorgonzola-stuffed arancini, rather than the lame-o with rice crackers and dip from the servo.
I’ve made spaghetti puttanesca many times but I don’t know if I’ve ever made such a rich and tasty tangle as this pasta, a big fat hug of a meal in a wide bowl. The firm, homely meatballs are just as loving, paddling in a spicy red sauce. Chicken involtini is a little bit fancier. Fillet strips are wrapped in prosciutto, seared and served with asparagus and crisp sage on a buttery heap of polenta. It’s a dish as direct and pleasing as Alimentari itself.
See their website.
More homestyle:
Cowderoy’s Dairy, 14 Cowderoy Street, St Kilda West, 9537 2601
Sit on the deck to eat excellent sausages rolls and jaffles and watch the kids in the playground over yonder.
The Dick Whittington Tavern, 32 Chapel Street, St Kilda, 9525 4250
There’s a stand-alone menu for coeliacs at the friendly and unpretentious Dick. The regular menu includes old faves like roast lamb and shepherd’s pie as well as more fancy dishes.
First published in The Age, November 13, 2011
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