Trattoria Emilia is a much-loved old-school Italian restaurant in the city.

The moody, cosy space has always been great for lunch, dinner and drinks. But now at lunchtime, the team turns the bar area into Emilietta, a new go-to for grab-and-go Italian sandwiches made using tigelle.

Tigella, or tigelle in its plural form, is a round flatbread from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. It has a crisp shell and a hot, fluffy interior, and is often stuffed with various fillings.

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Trattoria Emilia and Emilietta co-owner Francesco Rota tells Broadsheet that, in addition to being stuffed with fillings such as cunza (a mixture of pork lard, rosemary and garlic), traditionally, tigelle would also be served on the table among cold-cuts of meat and cheeses where “people could play around with the fillings”.

The idea to open the tigelleria started when Rota noticed Trattoria Emilia diners loved the Emilia-Romagna dish gnocco fritto and thought Melburnians might enjoy another specialty from the region. Two years after this initial thought, the team was equipped with a custom, handmade tigelleria – the machine used to make tigelle – imported from Modena.

The new lunchtime takeover launched in May and is an ode to the tigella, updated for modern sensibilities. Seven versions include a crowd-pleaser called the Raffinata, which comes filled with prosciutto, creamy stracciatella and mixed Ramarro Farm leaves. Inside, in place of shaved parmesan, is a crisp, delicate tuile for added texture. It’s made from 24-month aged cheese from Reggiano cows that produce smaller quantities of milk, which Rota says is “really intense, rich in vitamins, proteins and salt”.

The Modenese takes inspiration from a bestselling dish at Trattoria Emilia from a few years ago. The tigella is stuffed with saucy braised balsamic Cape Grim beef, creamy mashed potato with rosemary and thyme, and finished off with sweet and tangy balsamic baby onions.

For something sweet, there’s the Tola Dolza – meaning “take it easy” in Modenese. The warm and crisp flatbread is the perfect vessel for the filling of Nutella, coffee, fragrant hazelnuts, crisp wafer and light ricotta cream infused with a hint of citrus.

The team at Emilietta creates a weekly special, which in the past has included the Ham-nibal Lecter with smoked ham, rocket pesto, scamorza cheese and zucchini escabeche, and it has plans to refresh the menu come spring.

Emilietta
1 Gills Alley, Melbourne
No phone

Hours:
Tue to Fri 11am–2pm

@emilietta_tigelleria