Carlton icon King & Godfree is cooking up three new venues. This is what’s next

The transformation of Carlton’s most iconic corner is one step closer with the launch of Delmonte, set to anchor the King & Godfree building when it opens this winter.

The 110-seat Italian restaurant will join city-view terrazza bar Johnny’s Green Room, scoop shop Pidapipo and Naples-via-Tokyo pizza parlour Garfield to complete the vision of a next-gen Italian hangout: less nostalgia, more vibes.

“It’s a village within a village,” says owner Jamie Valmorbida, 40, of the flagship Carlton site.

He has taken sole control of the ground-floor Delmonte premises from his family, who still own the building’s freehold. (He is also proprietor of Garfield, steers Johnny’s with cousin Luca Sbardella, and owns Pidapipo with sister Lisa.)

Valmorbida is the third generation of the family to oversee the space, and he’s had decades of history here, starting at King & Godfree when it was a deli in its busy heyday, selling prosciutto and huge wedges of parmigiano reggiano long before such items were readily available in supermarkets.

“I worked here when I was 15, 16, making sandwiches, cleaning, doing deliveries,” he says. “I have fond memories of the place, it’s been important in my upbringing, and in the family for a long time.” Since 1955, in fact. But things needed to change.

“The old model wasn’t working,” he says. “People shop differently now. Times change, and we need to evolve too.”

The last iteration, opened after extensive renovations in December 2018, was a half-admission, with the space part deli, casual dining and the more formal Agostino restaurant. But it didn’t fly, closing in 2024. Now it’s drinking and dining, all the way.

Delmonte is pitched as a neighbourhood restaurant and wine room with a wood oven for grilled meats, and a house focaccia that will use a similar dough to the 72-hour ferment in the adjoining pizzeria. A powerhouse food team comprises executive chef Mark Glenn and culinary director Karen Martini, who has been reunited with head chef Diana Desensi, her kitchen lead at St Kilda’s Saint George. Design is by longtime collaborator Dion Hall.

‘It’s a village within a village.’

Jamie Valmorbida

Elements of the building’s history are threaded through Delmonte. The name translates as “from the mountain”, a nod to founder Carlo Valmorbida, Jamie’s grandfather, who emigrated from the hills of the Veneto to the flatlands of Carlton.

Sliced deli meats may no longer be retailed, but they’ll be available as salumi to eat in the restaurant. Wine bottles won’t be racked for sale, but if you want a nebbiolo or barolo, there will be expert servers ready to pull a cork.

“The offering is very much a homage to the history of the corner and the site,” says Valmorbida.

Meats from nearby butcher Donati’s, also a recent Valmorbida purchase, will turn up on the menu too.

Down the track, a bluestone-lined basement, never before open to the public, will become a cocktail bar and music venue, accessible from the restaurant and via a separate entrance on Lygon Street.

Valmorbida is optimistic about re-investing in Carlton. “The dynamic continues to change, but this part of the street is busier than ever,” he says. “We’re a kilometre from the city, on the doorstep of the inner-north, there’s a strong community, a cinema, it’s got all the ingredients to make for a great environment.”

Despite family discussions about leasing the site, Valmorbida wasn’t ready to watch it slip away. “I could not see that happening,” he says. “I see so much potential in this building, and I didn’t want to let go of the vision.”

Delmonte will open in winter 2026.

293-297 Lygon Street, Carlton, delmontewine.com