Carlton Restaurants

We became owners of Trotters in March 1988.

Our vision was to recreate the “Baccaro” or trattoria reminiscent of a typical northern Italian informal bar/trattoria serving typical rustic cuisine of the area, cooked simply using local, seasonal produce. The sort of food your mother would cook. And as everybody knows home cooked is often better than overworked, overly complicated restaurant food.

The food & the place has evolved over the years and we pride ourselves in providing a welcome respite with a quality good value offering.

We are not about fashion but about providing warmth & hospitality in the true Italian way.

Brunetti began trading at the Faraday street location in 1985. The Angelé family acquired the business in 1991 and transformed the lovely café that it was into a truly authentic Roman Pasticceria.

The Angelé family comes equipped with a wealth of knowledge and experience in Pastry and Cafés. The founder, Mr Giorgio Angelé began his training in Rome at the ripe age of 10. In 1956, at the age 23, Giorgio came to Australia with the Italian Olympic team as a pastry chef. After working for a few years, Giorgio was then given the opportunity to migrate to Australia permanently.

Since then Giorgio has always been involved in the pastry industry and you can still find him at Brunetti baking a delicious selection of European style sweets and desserts.

Over the years, Brunetti in Carlton has become one of Melbourne’s most iconic places to visit to indulge in a delicious Italian style coffee from the Bar, cake from the Pasticceria, gelato or tempting savoury from the Paninoteca. Brunetti became so popular that in April of 2005 another Brunetti café opened in Melbourne’s City Square, followed by a café in Camberwell (October 2007) and another in Myer Melbourne (October 2010).

Come meet the family at Stovetop.

The name Shakahari, incidentally, is the Hindi word for "vegetarian". For more than forty years Shakahari has been one of this city's most innovative restaurants.

Eschewing compromise, Shakahari has maintained a firm commitment to the two fundamentals of its cuisine: It is completely vegetarian and it uses only fresh, natural ingredients. Menus are changed quarterly to take full advantage of seasonally available fruits and vegetables and there are no artificial ingredients or colourants used.

Shakahari has pioneered other fields in its fascinating development. Beginning in the early '70s by introducing ideas from Japanese, Chinese and Thai culinary traditions. In style, Shakahari's cuisine has always been East-West even before this term became the familiar way to describe cooking which uses Asian ingredients and skills in a European context.

Today this restaurant's wide appeal rests on its expertise in creating meals which are light but satisfying, natural but attentively detailed in their preparation and presentation.

In keeping with its original Indian inspiration, the interior design of Shakahari's Carlton location uses basic village tones and simple furnishings. It's only indulgence are two magnificent cloth paintings of the 19th century Nathvara (Rajasthan school) and a series of the earliest devotional posters from the Ravi Varma Steam Press, Poona.

The Lincoln is a grand old Carlton hotel built in 1854. Since the end of 2014, she has seen a new lease of life under the direction of Iain Ling (ex MoVida) on the floor and Howard Stamp (ex MoVida, Green Park Dining) in the kitchen. The menu is available throughout the venue 7 days a week lunch and dinner, with the kitchen closing at 10pm every night and all day dining available on weekends.

The kitchen works closely with small regional suppliers and is focused on using sustainable and seasonal produce, with as much as possible made in-house, from their bread, mustard and pickles to curing their own free-range bacon. The public bar has retained its art-deco features, with 12 taps featuring craft beer, showcasing speciality brewing at its best, and trusty Carlton Draught for when the footy is on the big screen.

The space lends itself to a variety of areas suitable for groups of any size, whether a sit-down meal in the semi-private dining room, or standing canapés in the front bar. With generous group menus and a wine list focused on small interesting producers, there are plenty of pleasant surprises to be found if you are keen to try something a little different. There is a bottleshop available over the bar so if you find something in the list you like, you can always take an extra one home with you.

If it’s a celebration you’re planning, they have you covered, be it for birthday engagement, anniversary or family get-togethers, the warm and professional team will work with you closely to make sure every last detail of your celebration is right for you. For a more intimate night, why not treat your loved one to a ‘Full Lincoln’ where you put your trust in the chef’s hands as they feed you eight of their favourite dishes over the course of the meal.

Lunch specials for $18 are available from noon to 3pm and happy hour specials are on everyday until 6pm.