Lello Pasta Bar – Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Location: 150 Flinders Ln, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Ph: (03) 9654 6699

Situated in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD on the corner of Flinders Lane and Russell St, Lello Pasta Bar is a well-kept secret. If you enjoy Italian food hand-crafted from scratch, then you’ll love Lello’s Pasta Bar. If you appreciate great Italian dishes prepared by well-trained chefs who take great pride in their artisanal craft, this is the place for you.

You may remember 150 Flinders Lane as the home of the famous Yak Bar. Well, now it has been updated and is serving some of the best modern Italian cuisine in the city.

Open from breakfast through to late night, serving pizza and handmade pasta prepared fresh each day. The secret ingredient? A special sprouted, germinated flour for a lower gluten content and authentic Italian flavour.

If gluten is an issue for you, see our post, Gluten Free Pasta (is it worth it?) – a User Review

Founded by head chef, Leo Gelsomino (well-known from his days at The Grand Richmond), the kitchen lives by the mantra ‘tutta la pasta fatta in casa‘, which translates to ‘all pasta made in house’.

Please note: Lello Pasta Bar has now closed, another unfortunate victim of the Covid recession that hit restaurants in Melbourne CBD harder than almost anywhere else in the country. Thankfully though, Leonardo and Linda Gelsomino have resurfaced running Lello Artisinal Pasta which distributes their handmade fresh, dry pasta and sugo to retails stores across Australia.

Leo Gelsomino is the only Australian chef who has been trained in how to authentically produce what is reputed to be the world’s rarest pasta – ‘Su Filindeu’ (thread of god pasta).

You can purchase Lello’s fabulous pasta online here: https://lello-pasta-bar.myshopify.com/ and you can read our guide to recommended Melbourne Italian restaurants here.

Lello creates a number of our favourite handmade pasta dishes in Melbourne. Have a read of these and see how long it takes for your stomach to start rumbling:

Potato, Lemon & Mint Culurgiones

Traditional Sardinian ravioli, slow cooked broccoli, colatura di Alici and almonds

Arso Maccheroni Cacio E Pepe

Hand-roll burnt grain flour Maccheroni, pecorino Romano, parmesan and cracked pepper

Ravioli Alla Norma

Ricotta and mozzarella filled Ravioli, yellow tomato, eggplant and ricotta salata

Scialatelli Neri Frutti Di Mare

Campanian squid ink pasta with prawn, vongole, mussels, fish, white wine, parsley, garlic and chilli

Couple this with a cocktail or two (we can recommend both Lello’s Classic Negroni and the White Negroni). Or perhaps a cheerful, hearty Tuscan red from the reasonably-priced wine list and you’ve got the ingredients for an excellent night out in the heart of the city.

Lello delivers well on its promise of fresh produce, artisinal pasta, wholehearted service and a convenient location. Unpretentious, uncrowded and wholehearted – what’s not to like?

Have you ever tried making your own pasta? Whilst it will take you a while to get as good as it as the team at Lello, it’s not as hard as you might think. And it’s lots of fun too. For details on Pasta Maker Machines and more, see here.

If you’re looking for the similarly named and well-respected Lellos Pasta Bar in Park St. Brunswick Heads 2483, then please contact 04 1956 7249 or click here.

Whilst we’ve not eaten there ourselves (yet) we’ve heard only good things about the family-run establishment’s award-winning seasonal menus and lovingly created pasta made with organic flour and eggs.

Whilst Lello Pasta Bar has sadly gone for now, a new, exciting wine bar has opened in the once quiet end of Camberwell. Serving cocktails, an Italian leaning wine list and fabulously authentic wood-fired pizzas in the evening, see our full review of La Perla.

Dylan Cole
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