Con Christopoulos To Open a New Italian Bar and a River Cafe-Inspired Restaurant in the CBD

With his status as a Melbourne hospitality legend and his stable of venues, including Hot-Listed Kafeneion , Siglo , The European , Bossa Nova Sushi and Angel Music Bar , restaurateur Con Christopoulos doesn’t need to open another venue. “I’m addicted to it,” he tells Broadsheet.

After almost two years of talks, in May Christopoulos finally signed the lease to two spaces in the courtyard at 120 Collins Street. In December, he plans to open Roma, a trattoria inspired by his favourite city in the world, and Sergio’s, a bar and record store named for Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, known for classics such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in America.

Rome, Christopoulos says, is “a city of trattorias as opposed to a city of restaurants. There’s plenty of high-end food, but not many high-end restaurants, so they celebrate a more casual approach. It’s not fancy. It’s very sophisticated, but it’s not up itself.” His own Roma will have a similar confident yet laid-back feeling.

Matt Wilkinson (co-founder of Pope Joan ) will join Roma as chef and co-owner, and Giovanni Patane (co-founder of Supermaxi ) will oversee the floor.

Wilkinson’s menu will focus on some Roman classics, but Christopoulos says that Rome’s international nature allows for flexibility. “[Rome’s] about breaking rules.”

Taking inspiration from Ruth Rogers’s London institution The River Cafe , there’ll also be a focus on hyper-seasonal ingredients. Wilkinson and Christopoulos have already begun working with small Victorian farmers to grow bitter greens and other vegetables that Christopoulos says you can’t find in Melbourne.

Sibling bar Sergio’s is inspired more by the director’s life and style than his films, with architectural details drawn from Leone’s home in Rome.

Christopoulos says he lured Greg Molinaro – “the grandaddy of dance music in Melbourne” – out of retirement with “an offer he couldn’t refuse”. Inside Sergio’s, Molinaro will open a record store, relocating his Abbotsford shop Hub 301.

A kiosk with gelato and toasted sandwiches will bridge the two venues, “so you don’t have to be rich to hang out with us”.

Christopoulos hopes Roma and Sergio’s will bring something truly new to the city. “I live in the city, and there are some amazing Italian restaurants, but I would have thought after all these years – and the Italian influence of Melbourne – honestly, probably there should be more, and the quality should be higher overall.”

Roma and Sergio’s are expected to open at 120 Collins Street, Melbourne in December.