Ela Carte reviews: Craft & Co, Collingwood

The Craft & Co ? 390 Smith Street Collingwood ? www.thecraftandco.com.au

Well, it’s not easy to pigeon hole this one. Restaurant? Kinda. Caf?? Pretty much. Bar? Yep, that too. But The Craft and Co also boasts distillery, brewery, wood-fired bakery, ‘meats room’, deli & grocers, cheese making room, coffee roaster, and apparently they’ve even got a 40 acre vineyard, cafe, cellar door and farm site elsewhere in Melbourne!

As well as offering pretty good tucker, they’ll also show you how to make your own ? with regular workshops on things like cheese, salami or olive oil making.

But if you’re not interested in making your own and rather enjoy having someone else feed you ? there’s plenty on offer across the day.

For lunch, I had to order the arancini because they were made using my favourite new ingredient ? Nduja. Spreadable salami. Seriously. This one is made in house in the meat room. 

Of course there’s rice too, a biodynamic short grain variety, and house-made scamorza cheese. Super tasty.

Pea croquettes also bursting with flavour. Bechamel based (as the best croquettes are), filled with pea and mint, and topped with salsa verde and a squeeze of lemon.

Lamb ribs were terrifically tender as they should be, and still had a decent bit of crunch on the outside. Meat aside, I was blown away by the smoked labne these guys put on the plate. It was superb.

To finish, we thought we better try on of their pizzas ? made from sourdough, naturally fermented and made using excess wort that comes from the brewing process.

All the pizzas are named after colours, so there’s a Green, White and Red on the menu ? we went all out and ordered the special of the day ‘Purple Pizza’ ? with caramelised red onion, deli meats, and radicchio. Great flavour combo, and a really good crust.

If it’s a snack you’re after there are some really fun ‘pairing matches’, taking selections of cheese and meats and pairing them to drinks.

It’s a huge drinks menu, including their own pours on tap (although the kegs were down on this Monday lunchtime).

Check out the website if you feel like getting crafty yourself, or head in if you just feel like getting fed.