First Look: Glen Iris Sensation Grazia Opens a Takeaway Pizza and Panini Shop Next Door

Since mid-2023, finding a car park near the Central Park oval in Malvern East has been a near-impossible task. It’s not that permit zones and restrictions have changed – it was then that Grazia opened, a one-minute walk from the oval.

Restaurants including Kerabu , Central Park Cellars and Riserva have long been part of the area. But something changed when the 100-seat Italian restaurant, co-owned by chef Joe Di Cintio, opened. The restaurant saw weeks-long waits for reservations. Neighbouring businesses upped their game and new openings, including Greek spot Xander and curated grocer Beadcetera , followed.

“It’s become a culinary destination, it really has,” Di Cintio tells Broadsheet. So when the shopfront next to Grazia became available, he jumped on the opportunity. “We thought, ‘There’s one thing this area is lacking, and that’s a real takeaway option’.”

The back of the new site has been converted into extra kitchen space for Grazia, while the front is now Grazia D’Asporto – a grab-and-go spot for coffee, panini, pizza and bomboloni, which opened earlier this month.

The star here is the focaccia di recco: two sheets of crisp thin-based focaccia sandwiched with soft and creamy Stracchino cheese. “It’s so simple, yet so amazing,” Di Cintio says. The Ligurian focaccia is available at Caruggi in Geelong, but is hard to find in Melbourne, with Di Cintio believing his new shop is the first in the city to offer it. Here, they come plain or topped with either anchovies and oregano, or fresh tomato, cheese and basil.

In January, Di Cintio flew Italian chef and pizzeria owner Emiliano Gandol to Melbourne to train his team. Over two weeks, Gandol taught them the art of focaccia di recco and pizza al taglio. The square-cut pizza slices are made using a nearly 100 per cent hydration dough that’s fermented for 72 hours before baking. Di Cintio says unusually high hydration makes the pizza very light yet very crispy.

There are also six panini served on house-baked schiacciata, a thin and crisp Tuscan bread. Fillings include slow-roasted porchetta and buttermilk chicken. And for sweets: house-made cinnamon scrolls, tiramisu, chocolate mousse, fruit salad, panna cotta and bomboloni.

“Obviously, they’re crispy on the outside, light and fluffy inside,” Di Cintio says of the latter. “But the secret to our doughnuts is the fillings.” The gold dough encases changing jams, Italian custard and, “the pièce de résistance”, Di Cintio’s Joey D pistachio paste.

Grazia D’Asporto also sells the Roman-style pizzas that helped put the original menu on the map. They’re made using an 85 per cent hydration dough, and come as margarita, four cheese, pumpkin and ricotta, and more.

“We’re pulling out all our creative juices to come up with something mouth-watering for everybody to enjoy,” says Di Cintio.

Grazia D’Asporto
157 Burke Road, Glen Iris
9470 3540

Hours:
Daily 7.30am–9pm

@graziadasporto
graziadasporto.com.au