Melbourne Epicurean Eats

Baby

There's one born every minute and this one's a keeper

Swapping a Pearl for a Baby is no mean feat for owner Chris Lucas. The doors on one of Melbourne's iconic restaurants may be closed after 12 years, but the name still lives on. New premises for the Pearl brand is parked at present, while the culinary direction is determined.

With a strong Italian focus, group executive chef of Chin Chin, Dave Ricardo, oversees Baby's modern trattoria style menu. The open kitchen delivers a range of traditional and speciality pizzas, salumi, spezzatino, pasta, salads, and dolci. Be sure to secure a seat the bar and watch all the kitchen action.

Akin to the growing trend in Melbourne's fun, modern eateries, Baby is a walk in, no bookings. For your eating pleasure, they're open for breakfast, lunch or takeaway if you want to skip the queues for dinner.

There's also a trendy little courtyard in front. Try one of the Italian beverages or dine al fresco if indoors is off limits and weather permits.

Look out for the neon signs illuminating from Lucas' new Richmond venture. His vision for innovative food has made Baby a hot spot on the Melbourne restaurant scene.

Eat: Fresh quality produce helps express the almost rustic like Italian cuisine. Traditional techniques are employed to create artisan pizzas, while seasonal salads are handled with the most delicate of hands, just like Baby. We tried a couple of Italian classics, pizza and pasta. The san dniele dop prosciutto was like silk and the pizza base thin and light. Delicate parcels of gnochi ouzed the flavours of pumpkin and sage. La dolce vita followed with a serving of tiramisu and hot cinnamon doughnuts (five in total).