Extract from An Appetite for Melbourne.

Few establishments can boast as seedy a past as this place. Located above an old-school Italian pizzeria, in the 1950s it served as an illegal casino, and in the 1980s was owned by notorious local gangster Alphonse Gangitano, who ran it as a secret high-end gentleman’s club for his associates. Today this cosy, wood-lined space is a local wine bar par excellence, stocking over 200 boutique wines and serving excellent bistro fare to the sound of a great soundtrack. The Gangitano-era faux baroque décor and billiard table remain, but the atmosphere is much less sinister.