The Grossi Family Sells Its Melbourne Restaurants to Rebecca Yazbek of Nomad and Reine

Florentino is one of the oldest restaurants in Melbourne. The venue, at the top end of Bourke Street, has changed hands several times since it opened in the 1920s, with Pietro Grossi taking it over in 1999 and renaming it Grossi Florentino. The Grossi family has run it ever since, with Pietro’s son Guy Grossi serving as the face of the business.

The Grossi family announced the sale of the business on Wednesday October 8. And, after much speculation, today, Rebecca Yazbek’s Edition Group (formerly known as Nomad Group) officially announced its acquisition of Grossi Florentino (which will be named Florentino again) and other Grossi family businesses The Grill , The Cellar Bar , Ombra Salumi and Arlechin.

Edition Group is behind Nomad in Sydney and Melbourne , but is best known in Melbourne for turning the Cathedral Room, inside the former Melbourne Stock Exchange, into Reine. While the group’s past projects involved creating entirely new restaurants, Yazbek plans to honour Florentino’s history.

“People know Florentino, they love Florentino. There’s an expectation already,” she tells Broadsheet. “I am very conscious that we need to listen to the clientele and the current people who love Florentino and what it is. I don’t want to come in and turn it into this grand sort of design extravaganza and lose its soul. Any change or upgrades or renovation or reinvigoration or evolution, all those words – they’re hopefully subtle words – it’s got to be tempered.”

Yazbek will retain the team, with the exception of Grossi’s existing executive chef and culinary directors, who are exiting the business. Reine and La Rue executive chef Brendan Katich will move into the role of Florentino executive chef, working closely with Edition Group executive chef Michael Greenlaw (former executive chef at The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne), on a new, classically Italian, menu.

Of the smaller venues Ombra and Arlechin, Yazbek says, “In an ideal world we would have some fun.” But any changes will be slow and considered. “I’d really like to spend some time understanding the business, understanding the clientele, and what we can do.”

Yazbek began talks with the Grossi family in March and expects the deal to be finalised next month, pending approval of her liquor licence, on which the sale is contingent. The venues will continue to operate under the Grossi family until then.

“The Grossi family were never going to own [Florentino] forever. It’s had other custodians in its history, so for people to embrace our take on what Italian culinary destination dining is in Melbourne in 2026 and beyond, that’s what I’m hoping [for].”

In January, the Age published an allegation that Guy groped a female journalist. ( Grossi apologised for offending the journalist, but denies the allegations).