Totti’s Lorne

176 Mountjoy Parade
Lorne, VIC 3232
https://merivale.com/venues/tottis-lorne/

It took four attempts to get to my first meal at Totti’s (thanks COVID; remember those years?), so it feels only fair to make up for that with at least four visits. I managed to have Totti’s thrice before coming back to Melbourne, and almost 2 years later, I’m finally making the numbers with dinner at Totti’s Lorne. But here’s the question: has everything wonderful about Totti’s survived the interstate move? Let’s talk about the good bits first – the signature puff breads are still magnificent, and the pastas are as luscious as ever. Where Totti’s Lorne falls short is in the setting. I know they chose Lorne for its idyllic beachside vibe, but in reality, it stands out as the single fancy restaurant in town, and not in a good way. Rather than evoking the loose, Italian seaside holiday vibe that Totti’s is known for, the incongruently suave Totti’s just makes the rest of the town feel a little drab. I know this seems nitpicky, especially when the food is still reliably excellent, but the experience was just not quite the Totti’s I know and love.

Rating: 13.5/20 – can’t transport vibes.
Must order: puff bread and antipasti obvs, but apparently a lot of the locals didn’t get the memo – they were on less than half the tables! and sorry to bang on about the vibes, but it’s just not the same where there aren’t puffy rounds of bread being flung in and out of the oven every 20 seconds.

As mentioned earlier, the Wood-Fired Bread ($17) still slaps, with its beautifully aromatic dough, puffed up in the woodfire oven. It is a little less airy than I’m used to, but that’s not really a problem unless you greatly prefer the golden, crisp bits over the chewy bready ones. The Marinated Octopus ($16) however has been downgraded; whilst still a bright, zesty taste of summer, the octopus-to-fennel ratio has decreased significantly, and you now end up with almost twice as much vegetable as seafood.

The Cucumber, Chilli, Dill, Stracciatella ($16) is a new one for me, and it is utterly fantastic. Most of the flavours on this plate are well-worn, but the simple addition of quality chilli oil elevates this beyond the ordinary with its subtle but unmistakeable smoky warmth. It’s a simple vegetable dish with a surprising amount of depth.

Totti’s pastas have always been dynamite, and the Bucatini, Genovese, Gremolata ($36) is no exception. The sauce is a rich beef ragu, clinging to the silky swaths of pasta as the meat falls apart in the rich onion gravy. Add some pecorino and fried breadcrumbs and voilà! Simple but utterly perfect.

As tempting as the grilled broccolini with prosciutto was, I wanted something lighter to go with the heavy pasta. Luckily, there was a special of Chicory, Green Beans, Smoked Fish Dressing ($16), which makes the most of the remaining greens of the winter season. The smoked fish dressing was an unusual one, but worked to balance out the bitterness of the leaves. The grated bottarga on top on the other hand did make things too salty in places. Less is definitely more here.

The servings at Totti’s always catches me off guard with how generous they are, and so I wanted something light for dessert. The Gelato and Sorbet ($15, 3 scoops) was the easy choice, though I should’ve taken the fact that they were out of mango as a sign to grab their excellent tiramisu instead. Because although the limoncello, strawberry, and passionfruit flavours were all excellent, there was way too much sour in that combination, and we ended up leaving half the passionfruit uneaten. Oh well, lesson learnt.