Emilia reviews a restaurant that still has Christmas lunch bookings available!

Press PLAY below to hear Emilia’s full review

This is one to tell your mates about. It’s only a year old and getting a lot of buzz for their interiors, great marketing and of course unmissable food. The 1800s façade sitting on the corner of Chapel and Grosvenor streets is four storeys of glamorous interiors ascending up to the sunset-soaked rooftop. As you walk in you’re met with velvet green booths framing the copper-coloured, massive domed Marana Forni pizza oven with their cursive logo etched in the front. The two remaining levels sandwiched between are another green toned 10-seater private room and above that a cocktail bar slinging spritzes and mocktails alike.

This is the love child of Ali Mousavi, it’s even named after his real child, Stella. Ali’s father was a restaurateur back in Iran but this is Ali’s first go at it, you can tell he’s no stranger to good hospitality though. Stella’s pizza crust even has Ali’s family heritage running through it — it’s his father’s recipe and has been perfected over four decades. Ali scored the entire note with fabulous music I had to stop myself from singing (loudly) along to, although there may have been some quiet singing. My friend astutely commented on how the layout,  velvet booths and music at the perfect volume really was so ideal for facilitating conversation and a vibe.

But Stella isn’t TOO fancy, and I love that. In the best way possible, they borrow marketing techniques from good hospo everywhere; Wednesday Pasta Night, Tuesday Pizza Night, Bottomless Brunch and Rooftop for Happy Hour. The reason I chose Stella this week was that they’re serving Christmas day lunch and there are still bookings for 11:30am and 2:30pm. So, if your Christmas plans have fallen through because your host is sick at home with COVID, why not book in for Stella?

Head Chef Michael Tse is from Vancouver to Melbourne, with a rich background in fine dining having worked at the likes of Le Crocodile and Vue De Monde. The family theme continues in Michael’s backstory as his father was also a head chef and he still cooks the dishes he learnt from him. We were lucky to be served by the venue manager, Mukesh who was the ultimate service-giver. 

Thinking about the food to write this review had me salivating, Dani Valent said when she wrote her review of Stella she too couldn’t stop thinking about the food she’d been served!

I ordered:

Stracciatella & sourdough – $12.5

Wagyu bresola – $18.5

Salt baked beetroot, hazelnut, sunflower seeds, goat’s cheese – $21.5

Cured kingfish, corn, navel turnip, ponzu dressing – $28.5

King Island eye fillet – $59

San Daniele, tomato sugo, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, basil, parmesan – $34

For under $70 we had a bottle of Domaine Croix Trechens Beaujolais 2020

Stella
427 Chapel Street
South Yarra