Frankie Italo Dining and Disco Lounge

Dining, drinking and disco. That's the alliterative offering at Frankie Italo Dining & Disco Lounge (Frankie for short), a chic al fresco eatery at Mitolo Wines in McLaren Vale property. If Mitolo Wine is the traditional eldest sibling, and Little Wolf next door is the sleek and sophisticated middle child, Frankie is the gregarious, freewheeling youngster.

Open on Sundays only, Frankie is geared towards large groups – so add it to the itinerary for the crew’s next Fleurieu wine tour. The menu of pizza, pasta, proteins and sides is designed by Little Wolf’s executive chef Vincenzo La Montagna, and available three ways.

If you’re after a quick pit stop between wine tastings, opt for the Sit Down menu, which includes small plates and crisp Roman-style pizzas with toppings like potato and onion (both grown on the Mitolos’ farms in the Riverland) and bomba Calabrese (a spicy red pepper spread). There’s also a choice of dessert or house-made gelato from the roving gelato cart. The Get Comfortable menu adds a handmade pasta to the mix, and the Be Quiet & Eat includes a protein, which might be polpette, cotoletta or porchetta.

Naturally, Mitolo drops dominate the wine list, alongside bottles of Peroni and Ichnusa Non Filtrata (an unfiltered Italian beer) and Italianate cocktails including a house Negroni with whipped orange. The design by Studio Gram is fresh and bright, complementing while also contrasting with Little Wolf’s darker tones, with pastel-flecked terrazzo tabletops, glossy white ceramic tiling and timber cladding, plus curvaceous fixtures throughout.

There’s also a glimmering disco ball, and a bit of room to dance (though not a dance floor as such), if you want to bust a move to the Italo-disco playlist pumping through the speakers.