An Ode to Westholme Wagyu: La Madonna's Exclusive Wagyu Dégustation

Looking for the ultimate steak experience in Melbourne? There's a particular kind of restaurant confidence that comes from building an entire menu around one ingredient and daring you not to be impressed. La Madonna, perched on Level 3 of Next Hotel Melbourne, has done exactly that with An Ode to Westholme Wagyu - a five-course dégustation that we sat down to on a quiet Tuesday evening, curious whether a menu this singularly focused could actually sustain five courses without repeating itself. It can. Comfortably.

Westholme is one of Northern Australia's most respected Wagyu producers, prized for marbling that holds its structure under heat rather than simply melting into oiliness, and for a flavour that reads as savoury and mineral rather than one-note rich. Handing that raw material to Michelin-trained Executive Chef Jacopo Degli Esposti was always going to produce something worth writing about, and this menu is his love letter to the breed - carpaccio to consommé to crème brûlée, with barely a non-Wagyu ingredient in sight.

The setting: La Madonna, Level 3

La Madonna sits within Next Hotel Melbourne, and the dining room carries itself with a luxe tone and sophistication. Low light, generous spacing between tables, and service that struck the right balance between attentive and unobtrusive - we noted that nobody rushed us between courses, which matters when a menu is asking you to actually taste the differences between five expressions of the same animal.

The chef behind the menu

Executive Chef Jacopo Degli Esposti trained in Michelin-starred kitchens before landing at La Madonna, and that pedigree shows in the restraint of this menu. Nothing here is showing off for the sake of it - every technique, from the 45-day butter dry-age on the cube roll to the double consommé beneath the tortellini, is in service of letting the Westholme Wagyu speak. 

Course by course

Amuse-bouche: Westholme Wagyu tongue, jus a manger

The meal opens on an unexpected cut. Wagyu tongue isn't the flex-piece you'd lead with if you wanted an easy crowd-pleaser, but it's precisely the right choice for a menu built on showing range - tender, gently gamey, and served with a jus designed to be mopped up rather than left behind. It sets the tone: this is a dégustation for people who want to taste the whole animal, not just the trophy cuts.

Entrée: Westholme MB5 hanger steak carpaccio, bone marrow, classic dressing

Hanger is an unconventional cut for carpaccio, but MB5 marbling gives it enough fat to slice thin without drying out. Bone marrow adds richness rather than seasoning it away, and the classic dressing - sharp enough to cut through - kept us going back for one more bite of what could easily have been the smallest course on the table.

Pasta: Tortellini of Westholme tenderloin, double Wagyu consommé

Another showstopper course. A double consommé - clarified twice for depth without cloudiness — arrives around delicate tortellini parcels of Westholme tenderloin. It's the kind of dish that reads simple in a bowl and takes serious kitchen discipline to pull off; the broth alone would justify the booking.

Main: Westholme MB6 cube roll, 45-day butter dry-aged, Wagyu jus

The centrepiece, and rightly so. A 45-day butter dry-age concentrates the cube roll's flavour into something deep and almost nutty, while the MB6 marbling keeps every slice loose and yielding. The Wagyu jus is there to underline the beef, not compete with it. This is the course to slow down for.

Dessert: Wagyu tallow crème brûlée

A genuinely clever way to close the experience. Rendered Wagyu tallow folds into the custard base, giving the classic crème brûlée a faint savoury undertone beneath the caramelised sugar crust - proof, if any were needed, that this kitchen intended to use every part of the story, right down to dessert.

Price, dates and wine pairing

An Ode to Westholme Wagyu runs Tuesday to Saturday from 4 August to 31 October 2026, priced at $220 per person for the five-course set menu. An optional wine pairing is available for an additional $110 per person, matched course for course. Given the limited run and the single-table nature of a dégustation like this, La Madonna is asking for reservations at least 48 hours in advance - worth building into your plans rather than a same-week decision.

Should you book it?

If you're the sort of diner who finds a single-ingredient dégustation gimmicky in theory, this menu is the argument against that instinct. Chef Degli Esposti has built five genuinely distinct courses out of one animal, and the Westholme quality does the heavy lifting throughout. Our verdict was that the consommé alone was worth the trip; mine was that the cube roll will be hard to stop thinking about before October rolls around.

Frequently Asked Questions