Like everyone (especially Melburnians), we've been missing those long weekends of wining and dining in Melbourne, when you'd fly down to a packed schedule of art, comedy, theatre, late-night clubbing, live music and as many snacks as you can handle – which in a 24-hour city, is a lot.
It's still off the cards for 2020, but that doesn't mean you can't get a reminder of what Melbourne does better than anyone: high-end Italian dining. The Grossi family, behind institutions like Grossi Florentino, Arlechin, Ombra Bar, and the Cellar Bar, are Melbourne hospitality royalty and for one weekend they're packing up an at-home feast and shipping it to Sydney. They're suggesting you order it to watch the NRL grand final, but you don't need to be a football fan to know that you want to split saffron and mozzarella arancini; spinach and ricotta panzerotti; a 700g Lasagne; a whole, brined, chilli-roasted chicken; Italian roasted potatoes; broccoli Pugliese; a Grossi Tiramisu; Grossi olive oil; 500g of tonnarelli pasta, and Midnight Sauce. It's enough for four hungry people in one sitting, or you could split it into multiple meals and have back-to-back dates that involve very little work on your end.
Photograph: Supplied
There is a bright future in which we get to go and spend all our money in Melbourne again, but for right now the fancy fare is coming to us, for one weekend only.