Lello Pasta Bar

You've undoubtedly gotten the message that spaghetti bars are the most popular. Of course, there's Tipo 00, where would-be diners jam along Little Bourke's walkway at all hours of the day and night. On Little Collins Street, there's newcomer Pentolina, where a former Pellegrini's barista serves Pugliese-style spaghetti. And then there's Lello, which had a clever remodeling and a name change early this year without tossing the baby out with the bathwater.

Chef Leo Gelsomino, who placed Richmond's the Grand on the map for Italian cuisine before relocating to Yak on the junction of Exhibition and Flinders Lane in 2011, will be there. Wainscoting in the manner of Home Beautiful, arty artwork on the walls, banquettes, and bentwood chairs was all part of a recent remodeling. While the name change is enough to placate the dining gods of 2018, Lello, formerly Yak, remains a lively and unpretentious establishment that tastes like places of Italy you've never been.

Lello may be traveling a less-traveled pasta path, but the goal is much the same: superb fruit, intense culinary labor, and the X-factor that elevates it to the pantheon of Melbourne's notable Italians. Some folks, it seems, don't want to know what's in Lello's famous dish, the vincigrassi. The beef ragù, béchamel, and parmesan are the stars of this lasagne from the Marche area, but the veal sweetbreads and brains give delicate richness to the slow-cooked beef shoulder. The pasta sheets, made with unique, toasted wheat imported from Puglia, bring delicacy and complexity to a dish that's far from the over-sauced Australian-Italian renditions of lasagne.

Location: 150 Flinders Lane, Melbourne Victoria 3000

Website: https://lellopasta.com.au