Trattoria Emilia

Chefs and co-owners Franscesco Rota and Luca Flammia originate from Trattoria Emilia's namesake, and their straightforward recipes are heavy on flavor. On a busy evening, director Matteo Neviani can be seen running around with a three-plate grip, and it's all hands on deck. For lunch, an à la carte menu is available, but evening customers must order three meals.

Look no farther than gnocco fritto, a traditional Emilia-Romagna snack. A dish of salumi, mortadella mousse, and a little side of creamy stracciatella di bufala are snuggled together in a compact bread basket with light pillows of deep-fried gnocco fritto and soft, doughy discs of tigelle. Layer your tigelle with prosciutto di parma and a teaspoon of buffalo milk cheese, or break open the gnocco fritto and apply the mousse over it. Pork and bread have various textures that work together to create an appetizing combination.

The spanner crab gnocchi is a newer addition to the menu, and it has fluffy potato and lemon rind gnocchi with little bits of spanner crab, fresh prawn flesh, and crisp asparagus, all intertwined with a creamy, full-flavored saffron sauce. It's heavy, like any gnocchi-based meal, and can be tough to overcome after a few nibbles and starters.

Location: 360 Little Collins St, Melbourne Victoria 3000

Website: www.emiliamelbourne.com.au