Brunello opens dedicated cheese and wine retail room, oh my!
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Is a meal without a cheese course really the best meal it can be?
Not according to Brunello owner Tasso Rovolis.
In an homage to fromage, Tass has finally completed a dedicated cheese and wine retail room at one end of his bustling inner-city restaurant.
It means you can pop by for a glass of wine on your way home and grab something delightfully dairy to take with you for later.
Every good thing awaits behind those doors…
Brunello will also be running monthly cheese and wine tastings to allow patrons to sample some of the 40-odd fine wines and champagnes available by the glass on its space-aged Enomatic wine dispenser. These will be perfectly paired with cheese.
Calendar cheese providor Tamara Korsten has selected and supplied a delicious array of 12 Australian and international varieties (with more to come) and Tass has stocked the cool room with some of the labels of his 400-bottle collection.
It is a small, chilled, slice of heaven on City Walk.
“I think if you want to run a serious restaurant then a cheese room and a cheese trolley are vital,” said Tass.
“Of course we will provide cheese platters for our diners but it also means that you can come off the street and grab something you are keen to try to take away.”
Tamara said it was gratifying to see the restaurant invest in storing, selling, and serving cheese.
“There’s a range from Brillat Savarin French triple cream to Holy Goat, a small cheesemaker in the Yarra Valley who knows every single one of their goats by name!”
Tamara said it was good to be able to procure fine cheese in the city, and Brunello would help people expand their cheese repertoire, by offering both tastings and retail sales.
“It’s good to see cheese given the respect it deserves in a restaurant setting, and given how difficult it is to run a diary in Australia and produce quality cheese, it is great to see some of our local makers get more support,” she said.
Brunello’s cheese platter for two.
While Tass has yet to purchase the perfect trolley to roll through his tables, it’s on the cards. Until it arrives, delicious cheese platters are just served by staff in the conventional way.
And if you want to ask Tamara, an unabashed cheese fanatic, how to best serve and savour cheese, she suggests focusing on one simple cheese, and not going crazy with the accompaniments.
“Honestly? Cheese should be served very simply. Just serve one, and savour it. And if you finish that one off then open another one!”
Wise words indeed.
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Brunello Cheese and Wine Room
Where: 222 City Walk, Civic.
When: Open midday to midnight, Tuesday-Saturday.
Web: brunello.com.au
Monthly tastings will be advertised on the website and social media. Tickets cost $50 but include free tastings of the 12-cheese range, a wine credit of $50 to use on the Enomatic wine dispenser, and 20 per cent off any cheese or wine purchase on the night.
