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Save<\/p>\nCote Basque begins a new chapter for the beloved Becco space on Crossley Street. From tomorrow, find a deep bar, dark wood panelling and a charcoal grill scorching steaks, seafood and more.<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n One of Melbourne\u2019s best-loved dining spaces will reopen on Friday as Cote Basque. The 100-seat European grill is the first Melbourne restaurant from Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann\u2019s Trader House group since Gimlet launched<\/a> on Flinders Lane in 2020.<\/p>\n The Crossley Street venue<\/a> first welcomed diners in the 1950s as an offshoot of Pellegrini\u2019s Espresso Bar<\/a>. Between 1996 and 2024, it housed Italian restaurant Becco<\/a>, site of many a tie-loosening lunch and pasta-fuelled celebration. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an important space for so many people,\u201d says McConnell. \u201cI had my first coffee, a cappuccino, at Pellegrini\u2019s when I was 14. I have had countless customers and friends telling me it\u2019s so wonderful, please don\u2019t f— it up.\u201d<\/p>\n Key to the room is the way it steps down the laneway from Bourke Street towards Little Bourke, with steel-framed windows angled towards the street, giving it an air both industrial and whimsical. The mid-century green terrazzo floor has been restored, along with burnished cherrywood panelling and a newly leather-lined bar that will make even the slightest excuse for a bite seem like an epic occasion.<\/p>\n The restaurant channels McConnell\u2019s memories of the Basque Country, spanning north-eastern Spain and south-western France. His first meal on the Basque coast was as a young chef in the early 1990s, when he ate at fourth-generation three-Michelin-star Arzak Restaurant. \u201cIt was my first real top-end restaurant in Europe, eye-wateringly expensive for me at the time, but I still remember every element,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.<\/p>\n Sign up<\/a><\/p>\n As he returned to the region over the years, other elements stood out. \u201cThere are pintxos [snacks on sticks] in San Sebastian, a humble, soulful approach to braises, and a restrained and precise approach to cooking on a grill. Outside of Japan, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any country that handles seafood as well as Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be just as happy if someone sits outside for an espresso and keeps walking, has a cocktail before a show, or comes for an incredible meal.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew McConnell, chef-restaurateur<\/p>\n Head chef is longtime Trader House collaborator Allan Doert Eccles, previously at Cumulus Inc<\/a>. The one-page Cote Basque menu contrasts with the brasserie sprawl of Gimlet\u2019s offering: you can read this one with your elbows in. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited about having a concise a la carte, giving us time and space to finesse,\u201d says McConnell. \u201cThat\u2019s balanced by a spontaneous grill menu that changes every day, creating a unique experience every time.\u201d <\/p>\n He lights up when talking about strawberry clams from NSW \u2013 \u201csmall, slightly pink and just delicious\u201d \u2013 and little royal red prawns (\u201camazing texture\u201d), which are served raw as the crowning glory of a crouton topped with boudin custard and smoked tomato. <\/p>\n There\u2019s also David Blackmore\u2019s Rohne beef, a hybrid of wagyu and Galician rubia gallega, just as famed as the Japanese breed for its marbling. <\/p>\n In an interview days before the opening, McConnell sounds just as thrilled about the vegetables.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we lit the fire for the first time, we put in cipollini onions that not only cooked but smoked as the oven was warming,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re roasting greens and dressing them with green caper sauce, and artichokes are served with celeriac and marjoram.\u201d That\u2019s in the dead of winter. \u201cI can\u2019t wait for asparagus season,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n There are cheeky throwbacks too, including a Cosmopolitan cocktail straight out of the 1990s, and a Monday veal cotoletta special, a hat-tip to a Becco favourite.<\/p>\n McConnell hopes Cote Basque will become part of the city\u2019s easy rhythm, adding frisson to a laneway that includes a tailor, new taco shop Super Taco and Traveller, a tiny place for great coffee. <\/p>\n \u201cWe want people to be comfortable to use the space as they wish,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ll be just as happy if someone sits outside for an espresso and keeps walking, has a cocktail before a show, or comes for an incredible meal, creating their own adventure with things off the grill.\u201d<\/p>\n He and McGann weren\u2019t actively looking for a new restaurant when Becco owner Simon Hartley decided to call time. \u201cWe felt it was a unique part of Melbourne\u2019s restaurant history, so we took the leap,\u201d says McConnell. <\/p>\n Is he nervous about another city restaurant in an era of working from home and reduced spend? \u201cI am optimistic about the CBD\u2019s energy and potential, and I think as an industry we have to encourage people to keep using it.\u201d <\/p>\n This is restaurant number nine for Trader House, plus bar Apollo Inn<\/a>, four Meatsmith butchers and two Morning Market<\/a> grocery cafes. When is enough enough? \u201cI\u2019m blessed that I still love what I do,\u201d says McConnell. \u201cI enjoy working with our team, connecting with our customers. I feed off the energy of a restaurant and I love it when all the parts come together.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"Seafood,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1e97e3e0103cbff651cfb838c96033c50b61999d.jpeg\")
Seafood, David Blackmore beef and vegetables will all hit the grill.Sharyn Cairns<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ab497bcfe3f373fc47ca0f2296cf887119045110.jpeg\")
A U-shaped bar is primed for quick visits.Sharyn Cairns<\/p>\n