2020 put Italian chef Andrea Vignali through the wringer. After the international visa-holder was stood down from his job at Melbourne institution Grossi Florentino, he launched pasta-delivery service Al Dente. Vignali shut up shop as the city tentatively reopened after the first lockdown, but swiftly relaunched in the throes of the second.

Already a lockdown success story, it became even more so when Vignali and business partner Davide Bonadiman opened a bricks-and-mortar home called Al Dente Enoteca – on Nicholson Street in Carlton – last month.

But they have just learned they need to apply for a new planning permit (generally required for the sale and consumption of alcohol), which has resulted in an unexpected
liquor-licensing delay. While they’re doing all they can to fast-track the process, “We don’t know how long it’ll take – could be four to 12 weeks,” Vignali tells Broadsheet.

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As with most restaurants, serving booze is a pivotal part of the business model – and Vignali’s already feeling the effects of not being able to. “An enoteca is a place where you sit and have a pasta and a glass of wine,” says Vignali. (It literally means “wine library” in Italian.) “Every day we’re here not serving wine we’re losing money … We’re worried if we can’t get people dining in our restaurant soon, that we won’t last.”

He and Bonadiman run the enoteca with operations manager Michelle Badek. “We’re a young business, we’ve got no investors – it’s just [us],” he says. “We are here every day, 15 hours a day, struggling. And I just feel really, really frustrated.”

But Al Dente Enoteca is well and truly up and running – just minus the booze. Vignali and his team are serving house-baked focaccia, freshly shucked oysters and basil oil-y burrata. And for the main event: tortellini with cacio e pepe filling; pasta del giorno (“of the day”), which could be anything from a slab of lasagne to a rich bolognaise; and beef stracotto, a comforting stew with red wine and potato cream. (Plus, pasta is also available for pick up and delivery through Cookaborough, a startup that gives chefs and home cooks a platform for selling and sharing meals.)

And in place of the alcoholic stuff? Fancy booze-free cocktails including smoky verjuice Bloody Marys, G&Ts with Seedlip and Strangelove tonic garnished with compressed cucumber and thyme, and zero-alcohol wine from Melbourne label Non. “We reached out to them [about the pivot] and they dropped some off within 24 hours,” says Badek.

You can also stock your pantry at the enoteca’s adjoining shop, which Vignali has called the sapori (“flavours” in Italian). Shop Vignali’s house-made Piccolo Pickles range (think radicchio, cauliflower and plum) used in many of his dishes, Mount Zero olive oil and imported Italian balsamic vinegar, St Ali coffee, and more.

“Without all these other things, by now we’d be done,” says Vignali. “Lucky we’ve got a business that was built during Covid, so we know how to [adapt].

“There’s so much we want to do, so many dishes we want to plate up in our space. So many glasses of wine we want to be able to pour.

“This can’t be our downfall.”

Support Al Dente by visiting its enoteca and sapori, or by ordering pick up or delivery via Cookaborough.

Al Dente Enoteca
161–163 Nicholson Street, Carlton

Hours:
Daily 8am–7pm (closed Tuesday lunch)

instagram.com/aldenteenoteca