First Look: A “Formaggio” Sign Marks the Spot at Grana, the Fancy Brunswick Deli by Tipo 00 and Osteria Ilaria

In winter, the guys behind Tipo 00 and Osteria Ilaria lunged into the pizza game, opening Figlia on Lygon Street in Brunswick East. The handsome pizzeria has fast become a neighbourhood favourite – and is more often than not a full house. But now, the team has added another notch to its belt with the opening of next-door deli Grana.

Recently, Melbourne has come to associate the word “deli” more with sandwich shops than cheese and charcuterie retailers, but this is a deli in the traditional sense. (Though you can pick up everything you need to make an excellent sanga at home – or in the park.)

With a wall of custom-built (cupboard-looking) fridges, the store looks like a bottle shop at first glance. But while roughly half are stocked with minimal-intervention vinos, the rest are filled with wheels of nutmeg- and cocoa-coated cheese – or mandarin-peel-wrapped ricotta – by pastry-chef-turned-cheesemaker Lucy Whitlow, who also supplies Figlia. “It’s almost like a little cheese cellar of sorts,” says co-owner Luke Skidmore.

Beyond the fridges, find fancy tinned fish, truffle paste, pasta and other pantry staples. There’s also filter coffee by Ona, bread from Ovens Street Bakery and a tight but terrific selection of cured meats, including a sausage range from Salumi Australia, which Skidmore suggests slicing up alongside a bottle of rosé on a sunny day.

Grana
331 Lygon Street, Brunswick East

Hours:
Mon to Fri 11am–8pm
Sat 10am–8pm
Sun 10am–7pm

@grana.formaggio.vino