Sandra Del Greco Shines As Guest Chef For Grand Richmond Italian Night
Sandra Del Greco the owner and founder of La Cucina Di Sandra is a charming chef with loads of personality, and an ace in the kitchen. The World Loves Melbourne visited Grand Richmond for their Monday Italian Night, where diners can imbibe a main dish, bread and olives and a glass of wine for only $30. Check out our Best Italian Restaurants in Melbourne.
Barnie and David from Grand Richmond are kings when it comes to hospitality. Grand Richmond is a foodie hub; featuring fine dining in a hatted restaurant serving top notch Italian cuisine, superb function rooms upstairs for events, and the lounge and bar hits the mark for more casual dining. Grand Richmond has become a Melbourne dining institution that keeps itself refreshed and evolving, and lately employing top chefs and staff from Italy.
Sandra Del Greco runs a popular Italian cooking school in Richmond that focusses on regional Italian cooking. She provides a unique cooking school in Melbourne where it's about "cooking class meets dinner party". Groups of friends typically book a class of 6 or 8 and enjoy Sandra's instruction in Italian cooking, and then adjourn to a candle lit long dinner table to dine together for a four course meal. These cooking classes are uniquely intimate. The World Loves Melbourne reckons the meal itself is worth the money, let alone the cooking class! Bookings for classes can be made on Sandra's website.
Sandra worked with the first class Grand Richmond kitchen team including a Michelin trained Head Chef Federico Frigato, not without some banter with the boys.
For Italian Night at Grand Richmond Sandra produced 3 stunning dishes. We ordered the Rigatoni all'Abruzzese, featuring rigatoni with lamb and saffron. This was a rich and rustic dish, perfect in winter. With a glass of Chianti this was a superb way to spend a Monday night. Other options included Minestra d'inverno in brodo di pesce (fish soup with broccoliand pasta) and the Fegatini di pollo all'Abruzzese (Abruzzo style chicken livers served with crusty bread).
Grand Richmond lounge was fully booked on this Monday night with 60 diners. With many restaurants struggling or closed on a Monday night Grand Richmond provides diners with a fabulous Monday Italian experience.
We arrived early at 6pm as the crowd of diners started to gather. Barnie Bouchaud is one of the most hospitable hosts in the industry, seen here behind the bar (right). Also Sandra is pictured, a popular personality that loves to engage diners.
David Yuncken, another owner, is also a top notch host, welcoming guests as they arrive at Grand Richmond for Italian Night.
The ambience in the Grand Richmond on a Monday night is stunning. For those of us living in the eastern suburbs it's a quick trip down the Eastern then turn into Burnley St.
The dining room is also spectacular as a hatted restaurant with superb Italian fare...
Not to mention the upstairs function rooms, popular with corporates...
Barnie Bouchaud at a Grand Richmond function, a hub of conviviality.
Italian Night at Grand Richmond always produces something new. It was fabulous to include Sandra Del Greco a Richmond local from La Cucina Di Sandra Cooking School. Bellissimo!