Tippy-Tay is everything you love about an Italian dinner party brought to the heart of Melbourne’s CBD.
Last week, Sand Hill Road’s Garden State Hotel welcomed Tippy-Tay, a new colourful Italian restaurant bringing all that’s fun about coastal European summer vibes to Melbourne’s city.
From the moment you step into its bright yellow and green rimmed doorway, Tippy-Tay transports you to an experience like no other. Expect to see a fusion of bold and bright colours, walls lined with over 3000 vintage glass bottles, lights and bunting flags festooned above, and tables topped with mix-matched plates to create an undeniably fun, relaxed and welcoming party vibe. You won’t find a white tablecloth anywhere here!
A feast for the eyeballs, but also the ears as the theatre is elevated with DJs on the decks and tunes echoing well into the night. Local Melbourne-based talent agency, WAT Artists, will turn up the tracks, showcasing the best of their Melbourne roster across Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 5.30pm onwards.
The Italian theme carries through to the food and drink menu, nodding to a classic trattoria offering traditional and refined Italian dishes.
Garden State’s Head Chef Dylan Evans, in partnership with Ashly Hicks (Executive Chef at Sand Hill Road’s The Espy), will have you digging into dishes like cacio e pepe arancini; pork cotoletta with Tuscan slaw and mustard sauce or 600g Bistecca Fiorentina with lemon and first press olive oil. But it’ll be hard to look past Tippy-Tay’s showstopper, Last Night’s Lasagne, their take on an Italian favourite with all the crunch and deliciousness of ‘last night’s’ classic.
“We wanted to create delicious, shareable dishes where people can enjoy all that’s good about Italian food – the theatre, the mess and the fun of a simple, well executed meal,” says Dylan.
The fun continues right through to dessert where you’ll be treated to a retro-styled, jazzed-up airline trolley that will make its way to your table offering irresistible Italian treats and digestifs. So, whether you were planning to or not you’ll find it hard to resist indulging in a decadent tiramisu or freshly filled cannoli.
On to the drinks and the team has ensured Tippy-Tay has some special touches of its own including “press for Negroni” buttons placed within select booths, that when hit, triggers the order of this classic cocktail direct to your table in the form of a Negroni Fountain. Nothing screams fun quite like a fountain of Italy’s most famous cocktail!
Speaking of cocktails, the menu is as fun and bright as the fit-out. You’ll find Tippy-Tay’s take on classics like Margaritas, Negronis and G&Ts alongside house creations like the Roman Holiday (strawberry Aperol, coconut Havana rum, grapefruit, lime and soda) or Passionfruit Therapy (Fiorente, elderflower, Belvedere vodka, passionfruit, pineapple and citrus).
Tippy-Tay will also be partnering with Unico Zelo, an Adelaide Hills winery that specialise in sustainably minded Australian wines, to deliver an exclusive cobranded limoncello bottle. The Tippy-Tay x Unico Zelo bottle will be found on top of the dessert carts, as well as acting as the base of a refreshing frozen limoncello cocktail.
For wine lovers, Sand Hill Road’s Sommelier Matt Skinner (formerly of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurant) has curated a small, compact and dynamic wine list that puts Italian grapes centre stage.
“You’ll find Italy’s best wines, alongside Australian producers who’ve pioneered and championed the cultivation of Italian grape varieties locally. Think Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley or Shiraz from McLaren Vale,’ says Skinner.
Garden State Hotel is part of Sand Hill Road and the introduction of Tippy-Tay sees the first major update across their eight venues since the redevelopment of The Espy in 2018. The restaurant’s aesthetic was curated by the same team that revitalised the St Kilda venue with interior stylist and designer Eleisha Gray working closely alongside Techne Architects and Ayus Botanical to create a space full of charm and that honours its Italian origins.
Tippy-Tay will be the perfect place for date nights, to host your next birthday party or just to celebrate the everyday, with larger groups able to book a semi-private chef’s table.
Tippy-Tay opened its doors on Thursday 11 November, bringing all the party vibes of an Italian dinner party to Flinders Lane.
Bookings are open now but aren’t expected to last long. Secure your Italian getaway via http://tippytay.com.au/.
Tippy-Tay, Garden State Hotel, 101 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.
Tippy-Tay is open seven days a week – Monday and Tuesday for dinner service only, and Wednedsay through Sunday for both lunch and dinner service.
Image credits: Pete Dillon
