Restaurant Overview:

The Dome Restaurant is a traditional B-Listed building located in Blairgowrie’s historic Lesley Street and famous for its world class Visocchi inspired ice-cream.

Discover just how far back the history of Blairgowrie’s Dome restaurant goes as the new owner Karlie shares with us who has worked in this place over the years.

The Story:

From the outside, and to someone who has never visitied before, it isnt readily obvious why this place is called ‘The Dome.’

Karlie, the new owner tells us, “People don’t realise why until they walk through to the dinning area and look up at the beautifully handcrafted domed architecture.”

During our visit, we discovered that this building is B-Listed and the column’s that hold the Dome in place were installed in the 1920’s and all the woodwork in the front of the building, often found on its counters, seating, and window displays are still the originals used and observed by generations of families before us.

Karlie even revealed an engraved name to us which she said had been carved onto her seat’s woodwork more than 30 years ago. How cool is that!

Ask any local about the Dome and most will tell you about the Visocchi Family.

Serafino Fortunato (Frank) Visocchi bought the building in 1905 and opened it as a cafe. He imported Italian terazzo for the exterior, built wooden booth style seating, and in 1930 he built the domed roof with it’s six pillars in the rear of the building.

When he retired in 1971, Fortune had worked in the Dome for 57 years, but his three children chose not to follow in their parent’s footsteps.

The restaurant was sold to Fortunes nephew, Harry Quinn.

Harry initially leased it out to a group of young men who painted the wooden booths and central gantry red – and then one night the men disappeared never to be seen again.

Still to this day, nobody knows where those men went. It’s a mystery.