Featuring: Bianchet Providore, Yarra Valley Ketchup, Di Stasio Citta…

MELBOURNE has been quiet. In the midst of our second lockdown the beloved hospitality industry – restaurants, cafes, retailers and bottle shops – all bunkered down for the long haul of Stage 4 restrictions. As we mentioned in the last Grapevine, takeaway and delivery is still allowed under Stage 4 but the uncertainty of what our industry will look like in the months to come induces anxiety in many. Still, we are Melbourne, a confident city and as always, we adapt, we keep going and as always, there is still so much delicious food out there to choose from.
Frank Camorra and his team at the award-winning MoVida established the Menu Del Dia during the first lockdown. They put the idea to bed once Melbourne reopened but decided to bring it back during Lockdown 2.
Every Friday and Saturday, MoVida deliver a box packed full of ready-to-eat provisions, inspired by comfort food abuelas (grandmothers) of Spain would put together for when their family would return home. The menu covers breakfast, lunch and dinner for two, with such generous portions that leftovers are inevitable.
The menu includes their freshly baked MoVida sourdough and varies regularly (but is always delicious!). Think, Jamon Iberico or cuttlefish – braised in an Andalusian-style, with chorizo and chickpeas. Mains may include a roasted half free-range chicken with agridulce sauce or a slow-cooked Birregurra lamb shoulder with red pepper and Fino sherry. MoVida, 1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne; phone (03) 9663 3038. www.movida.com.au
Chef Paul Cooper of Bianchet Bistro in the Yarra Valley has shifted his business model to establish Bianchet Providore and Yarra Valley Ketchup.
Bianchet Providore has allowed Paul to continue to indulge his love of the region’s produce. He utilises vegetables from his own kitchen garden to sell fresh in the Providore and stocks local producers including Yarra Valley truffles (seasonal), Kennedy & Wilson Chocolate and Yarra Valley Gin Pig (pork products from pigs fed the spent botanicals from Four Pillars Distillery).
You’ll find house-made jams, perhaps orange marmalade or Dragonfruit, next to
granola, butters and salts. Paul has also set up a bakery within the Providore, making sourdough loaves and sweets such as meringue and macarons.
In this restructure, he has taken the opportunity to work on a long-held idea and establish, Yarra Valley Ketchup, a Ketchup Company of well-crafted ketchups to sell in the Providore and to serve as a condiment with the Providore’s Pithiviers.

Paul is making the French-style pies with fillings like Chicken, Corn and Green Beans; Pork cider, apple, Brussels sprouts and Choucroute, and red curry duck with braised red cabbage.
Ketchup flavours include: Traditional Tomato Ketchup, Blueberry Beetroot Ketchup, Pumpkin Ketchup, Hot spicy Ketchup and Green Fried Tomato Ketchup.
Prepared meals to take-home, reheat and eat also feature at the Providore and Edge Hospitality. The selection includes Cassoulet of duck leg, beef cheek with mashed potato, mushroom and bacon, and French Onion soup.
Bianchet Providore & Yarra Valley Ketchup, 187 Victoria Rd, Chirnside Park; phone (03) 8288 1844. www.bianchetwinery.com.au/shop.
Another much-loved restaurant, Bar Lourinha on Little Collins Street in the CBD has set-up their weekend boxes for pickup or delivery from Thursdays to Saturdays.
The popular diner, that takes its menu influences from Spain and Portugal has kept its regulars happy by making sure their famous Kingfish Pancetta can be delivered as well as Pork, morcilla and chickpeas, the very decadent Jamon croquetas and Portuguese pork and clams.
Chef Matt McConnell is also making his own chorizo sausage and serving it with cider and beans. There’s a savvy drinks list including Valformosa ‘MVSA’ Cava Rosado, NV; Gigi Bianco, 2018, Trebbiano, Toscana, Italy and Bodegas y Vinedos Alnardo ‘PSI’, 2014.
Bar Lourinha, 37 Little Collins St. Melbourne; phone (03) 9663 7890. www.barlourinha.com.au
There’s always a positive somewhere and the fact you can buy dinner from legendary restaurants like Di Stasio Citta on Spring Street to enjoy at home, is an unexpected luxury.
Owner Rinaldo Di Stasio has designed a menu of comforting classics like the Lasagne Pasqualina oozing tomato and mozzarella and Paccheri pasta with a lush Bolognese ragu and Pollo Arosto; roast chicken, seasoned with rosemary and garlic. Premixed cocktails, Negroni and Martini, even Brandy Alexander are available as well as a wine list featuring Di Stasio’s own Yarra Valley Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
With this lockdown, the quiet and the restrictions, Melbourne knows that once we reopen, we’ve got an awful lot to look forward to.
Di Stasio Citta, 45 Spring Street, Melbourne; phone (03) 9070 1177. www.distasio.com.au/citta.