Rosetta Italian restaurant opened at Crown Melbourne on 23 October 2012. With opulent interiors by Iain Halliday of BKH, it is the latest culinary venture by the Rockpool Group with Neil Perry as the creative force behind it. “Iain and I wanted Rosetta to be classical, luxe and to reference all the important ‘Italianisms’ that we aspire to. From the punched tan leather reception desk (resembling a Ferrari interior), to the vintage Fornasetti screens, antiques and gilded pieces, everything has been painstakingly researched and sourced to create a highly individual, beautiful restaurant.”
Amid the plush burgundy velvet banquettes, mahogany parquetry walls and chandeliers, are contemporary references like the Andy Warhol-inspired digital print Last Supper by Six Hands hung in the private dining room (for twenty), and a portait wall of Italian legends from stage and screen. “The references can be read by those who recognize them, but can remain ‘below the surface’ to many; it doesn’t matter. They’re all Italian in origin and definitely contemporary in the way we’ve executed them – so it balances out what could be an almost literal traditional interior,” says Halliday.
“We were fortunate to be given an elegant, freshly minted envelope with high ceilings and a beautiful fluted glazing system to all facades. While other restaurants in the precinct are side by side, Rosetta stands alone and is immediately visible from the porte-cochère of Crown Towers.”
Rosetta’s kitchen is headed by Brendan Sheldrick. At its heart is a wood-fired oven and chargrill for classic dishes from suckling pig or lamb to roast chicken. Sommelier (and restaurant manager) Daniele Bilancetti is curating a wine list of over seven hundred Italian varietals. The one-hundred-seat restaurant offers intimate areas, including a small bar for ten in the centre of the dining room and a private dining room for twenty, while the eighty-seat outdoor terrace space overlooking the promenade and Yarra River takes in a panoramic sweep of the Melbourne city skyline.
Rosetta will be reviewed in a forthcoming issue of Artichoke magazine.
Rosetta
Crown Entertainment Complex
8 Whiteman Street, Southbank, Vic 3006
rosettaristorante.com
