Before acclaimed restaurateur Guy Grossi takes us on a tour of his latest bambina Settimo, he greets me with ‘il bacetto’. Although I can’t guarantee the air kisses on both cheeks when you arrive at his latest Italian outpost, you will immediately feel right at home with the staff’s welcoming chorus of Bongiorno!
I spoke with Guy again yesterday after the much-heralded opening of Settimo at The Westin Brisbane.
Chef Grossi’s seventh restaurant is fittingly named Settimo. Unlike its six siblings – Melbourne’s Grossi Florentino, Merchant Osteria Veneta, Ombra Salumi Bar, Arlechin Food and Wine Bar, Pezzo, and the Westin Perth’s Garum, the cucina at Settimo is from Campagna and the glamorous Amalfi Coast.
Perched above the CBD, it is particularly different from recent fine-dining openings. Settimo offers the holy grail of fine dining: relaxed but with the kind of food that only comes from a determination to deliver an experience unlike any other.
The serial restaurateur’s skilled team is head chef Alessandro Pizzolato (formerly from Brisbane’s Hellenika), Anthony Folio is the restaurant manager and is ex-Nobu, while sommelier Deniz Hardman was at Lake House Daylesford).
THE DECOR
In the space that was Eden’s Landing restaurant, there’s been a radical re-design by Mills Gorman Architects. The 150-seater’s walls are washed Mediterranean blue and meet the terrazzo floors with booths and tables built for four. A long communal table does double duty for breakfast service bowls and platters and, later in the day, provides extra seating.
Rosemary, basil and more are already thriving in the terraced garden, with an established olive tree playing wallflower in the corner. The open kitchen, grill and the racy red Italian slicer centre the main dining room space. Jars filled with autumn preserves and a wine-case-lined wall keep the casual Amalfi tone.
Around the corner, an intimate room with wall-to-wall premium wine storage leads to what must be Brisbane’s most elegant but relaxed 20-person private dining room. “We have taken the big space and broken it up into separate and created separate spaces – more compact, more cosy”. explained Chef Grossi.
And those distinctive blue and orange tiles? They’re part of the Settimo wording.
THE FOOD
The chef’s love of food and home-grown produce began in his own backyard at his family’s suburban Melbourne home. He learned firsthand from both his mother and father the traditional preparations and the importance of seasonality before joining the hospitality business like his father before him.
While the menu and wine list have changed since our last interview, the intrinsic foundation remains. A commitment to fresh, essential ingredients and a ‘less is more’ approach – allowing the produce to shine is still paramount.
From the Assaggini (appetisers) to the Dolce, it’s a homage to Amalfi in style and seasonality. The a la carte menu is extensive with set menus, pronto lunch and breakfast, keeping the kitchen busy from early morning until the last cover late at night.
THE INGREDIENTS
Mozzarella di Bufala
Campagna is considered the home of buffalo milk mozzarella. And Queensland artisanal mozzarella is a star component of Settimo’s menu. Alessandro Motta’s artisanal buffalo mozzarella, fior di latte and burrata made here in Brisbane’s suburban Mansfield is made the old-fashioned way, naturally fermented and stretched by hand.
The cheese features in the Mozzarella in Carozza, Anchovy and Basil to the Caprese made with Casa Motta’s Buffalo Mozzarella and Ox Heart tomato, to the Gnocchi all Sorrentina, the Melanzane Parmigiana and the Green Beans with Burrata.
The freshest catch from Mooloolaba’s Walker Seafoods is translated into Crudo di Pesce with Pangrattato, Lemon, Olives, Tomato, Scialatielli All’Amalfitana with Colatura, Snapper Cappelletti and much more.
Pork
“We went to a beautiful pig farm – Piggy in the Middle, and their product is great! We did a roast pork rump from them the other day, and it’s delectable”.
He met the sixth-generation farmers behind Piggy in the Middle from Kilkivan on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Hinterland. All the animals – sheep, pigs and chickens are raised free-range. Their pork is nitrate, chemical and gluten-free, and the farm is not only regenerative and hormone, antibiotic and pesticide-free; they rotate their animals through their pastures, ensuring their soil remains chemical-free.
Piggy in the Middle pork features in the Braciola ala Pizzaiola across the a la carte and set menus while their pasture-fed eggs have a starring role at Breakfast.
One of the ingredients Guy had to include was the umami-bomb colatura di alici (anchovy drippings). It takes many months to preserve and ferment the anchovies in small wooden barrels. To Guy, it is key to Amalfi cuisine, “When we first started thinking about Settimo, I went straight back to Cetara in my head and that amazing colatura”. The colatura makes an appearance in the Primi pasta Scialatielli All’Amalfitana and Cappelletti.
The Wine
Guy told me, “We are in a phase with our wine list. We are going to grow it exponentially. Our wine list covers haven’t arrived yet, so we’re working off one sheet. But it’s still a pretty comprehensive wine list with well over one hundred wines now, and when the covers arrive, it will be around 250 – 300 wines. There’s a solid Australian emphasis with some Queensland wine and the Italian as well”.
Currently, the list runs seven sparkling wines from Italy and Australia and three Champagnes. While there are twenty-one Italian whites, the Granite Belt’s ‘La Petite Mort’ Chardonnay 2017 takes its place alongside many stellar Aussie white wines.
Reds take you around the world, from a Californian Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 to a Syrocco Shiraz from Morocco to Tassie, Victoria and across Italy. Orange wine, cocktails, amaro, digestivi, dolce and grappa join in with domestic craft beers as well as three Italian Birri.
The glue that holds it all together? Although Guy doesn’t have the family around him here in Brisbane, this is still a family business. He credits his family with that ‘let’s get on with it’ spirit that saw them through the pandemic.
And there is that sprezzatura – that Italian nonchalance that makes every moment and culinary triumph seem effortless. It’s the Italian way.
Settimo is now open at The Westin Brisbane, Level One, 111 Mary Street Brisbane
