Flinders Lane is a place where good food is easy to come by, but hard to get a seat at. Some of the busiest restaurants from Coda to Chin Chin to Meatball & Wine Bar, and even Fonda have people pouring out the doors at all hours. Well too much of a good thing is never enough right? That’s what the team behind newcomer Woody P thinks. They’ve joined the Flinders Lane party, but thankfully are offering up something a little different. A produce focused menu with Mediterranean flavours and a full pizza menu.
While the venue is offering a fun and light hearted space for dining, the ethos, the food, and the team behind it deserve serious recognition. Head Chef Clinton Camilleri is joined by Venue Manager Brent Scales who brings a wealth of experience to this new eatery. Camilleri worked his way around rural Victoria from Eleonore’s Restaurant, to the Lake House, to the Healesville Hotel, which was awarded the 2014 The Age Good Food Guide Regional Restaurant of the Year. Scales has just come from being Restaurant Manager at the Stokehouse Café in St Kilda and then helped to open Stokehouse City Bar. See what we mean? A pair of serious resumes.
The menu starts small with veal with tuna aioli, wagyu bresaola, and pickled onion, or the king prawns with garlic, chilli, and lemon. Dishes get bigger as you go along with the roasted duck breast with confit leg pastry, radicchio, and citrus or the spinach and ricotta gnudi, tomato sugo, and ricotta salata. Pizzas are 10” and keep things fairly authentic with the margherita of fior de latte, San Marzano tomato, fresh basil, and Sicilian olive oil, and the porchetta or slow roasted pork, nduja, caramelised onion, and apple. Plus there is a section on the menu dedicated to both salumi and cheese. We’re pretty much sold.
When it came to the fit out, Eades and Bergman (Kong, Taxi Kitchen, Mr Miyagi, and The Meatball & Wine Bar) were in charge. They know how Melbourne diners want to enjoy their food. Think polished timber floors, exposed brick walls, a sleek bar area, and a large outdoor dining space.
Woody P is fun and entertaining, but with a heart of gold.
Woody P
121 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
(03) 9654 5000
www.woodyp.com.au
