Gigi Rooftop above Umberto is a summer-only spot overlooking Thornbury’s High Street

It’s golden hour. Your eyes are turned towards the horizon. The promise of night floods the sky with possibility. A chilled spritz rests in your curled fingers, while the first sip of pink grapefruit and prosecco dances on your tongue.

The only thing that could be better is someone whispering seductive words in your ear. And then it happens: “The burgers have arrived.”

We’re at Gigi Rooftop, the summer-only sundeck that has just opened for its fourth season above Umberto Espresso Bar. There are plenty of new rooftops in Melbourne, but there’s still nothing like this one.

I’m not saying it’s spectacular, exactly – the view to Thornbury’s north is suburbia – but there’s something special about climbing above uber-urban High Street and hitting a faceful of sky.

To get to this proletarian paradise, you wend your way through Umberto, a classic Italian casalinga, the bedrock of a 15-year-old Thornbury restaurant group that also includes cheeky Joanie’s Baretto and bijou pasta and wine bar Pastificio Sandro. The group is Italian at heart, springing from owner Marco Finanzio’s desire to honour his father Umberto’s Calabrian food heritage.

Gigi is a bit different: it’s the next-gen Aussie upstart, adding a bit of Naarm nous to the Euro-leaning portfolio.

The menu is snacky and only tangentially Italian. Those American cheeseburgers are easy drinking fuel and there are fries, because sometimes you just give the people what they want.

A bar needs croquettes but these ones would please nonno. They’re tight little packages of eggplant parmigiana, gluten-free crumbed and fried.

Pinsa are a light, crisp spin on pizza. The bonus for serving them as bar food is that they’re less floppy than pizza and easier to eat one-handed.

Scallops are slurpable too, baked with chilli butter and served in the half shell. The food isn’t amazing but it more than does the job.

You’re probably here for the drinks anyway. That spritz is frisky and citrussy, made with red grapefruit aperitif, rose vermouth and bubbles.

A sgroppino is everyone’s favourite on a boiling day in old Veneto, made here with a scoop of sorbet, a whisper of passionfruit and prosecco.

Do you like to nibble your cocktails? You’d be in the market for a gin-and-tonic white chocolate “Magnum” ice-cream, made in partnership with gelato artisans Cono.

Gigi knows Melbourne summer can mean many things: there are blankets, heaters and a bit of shelter for sudden squalls. It’s an easy drop-in space before a meal downstairs or after you’ve eaten elsewhere.

It’s busiest at golden hour but when you’re snacking and spritzing, all the hours seem gold-plated and becoming more precious every minute you’re here.