Behind the Scenes

Life as a restaurant owner is often seen from an audience members point of view as being pretty ‘WOW’, and in so many ways it really is - there’s always lots of fun to be had. Plenty of good food, plenty of champagne, and of course so many good times to be shared. But late nights and early mornings are a part of it too, and this can be hard work.

Fresh food is key to serving delicious tasting food, and as a result there’s so much preparation that goes into every plate. At Piccolino, our pasta is made fresh every week; sometimes twice a week depending on how busy we may be. Pizza dough is rested for 72 hours so we are often preparing on a Wednesday so it’s perfect for the weekend trade ahead. Again, depending on how busy we are, determines just how many additional hours are needed to deliver a great woodfired pizza, or fresh pasta dish.

Then of course, the cold cuts need to be freshly sliced; salami, prosciutto, mortadella… Additional to this the fresh vegetables need to be washed, cut, and often roasted, and then of course once all these kitchen tasks are completed, each element needs to be weighed and portion managed for refrigeration – and we haven’t even started with desserts yet Lol !!

So next time you visit a Melbourne restaurant and order some of your favourite dishes, be sure to remember just how much work has already gone into preparing your plate.