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Darryl Hand at Hotel Indigo & Holiday Inn
There’s something genuinely uplifting about sitting down with someone who’s spent over forty years in hospitality and still lights up when they talk about food. That’s Darryl Hand. He’s been in kitchens since the days of Hilton Melbourne’s grand dining rooms in the ’80s, cooked for queens and rock stars, and seen hotel dining evolve…
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Francesca Giorgi Monfort at Frankie’s Pie Shop
Francesca Giorgi Monfort didn’t set out to become Melbourne’s most interesting pie maker. The Swiss-born chef’s path has been anything but straightforward: from PR and art galleries in London to restaurant management in Europe, and finally to the kitchen where she found her true calling. After working at Farmer’s Daughters, Marion and heading the kitchen…
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Mirco Speri at Sincero
Sincero in Malvern is the second restaurant from chef Mirco Speri and the team behind Buono in Parkdale. While Buono captures the easy warmth of a bayside ristorante, Sincero brings a quieter confidence to Glenferrie Road. Open since April 2024, it’s already known for what Mirco calls Italian my way: familiar flavours, local produce, and the occasional twist;…
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Anuj Sanghi at Bar Mercado
Today I’m chatting with Anuj Sanghi, who’s opened Bar Mercado on Peel Street, right across from the Queen Victoria Market. The name Mercado means “market” in Spanish, and that’s really the heart of what Anuj has created, a place for people to gather, share food, drink, stories, and cultures. Every morning he walks over to the market to hand-pick his…
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Harry Dhanjal at Atta
Atta in Albert Park has quietly and confidently become one of Melbourne’s most enduring modern Indian restaurants. It’s been ten years since it opened, which is no small feat in this city, and behind it all is chef and owner Harry Dhanjal. Harry has spent that decade redefining how we think about Indian cuisine, balancing…
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Ioannis Kasidokostas at Aegli
When I walked into Aegli in South Melbourne, the first thing I noticed was the light: soft, golden, everywhere. Then I met Ioannis Kasidokostas, and it makes even more sense. Aegli was a goddess, Yanni tells me: elegant, dazzling, radiant, and that’s exactly what he’s built here. The space, the food, the feeling. Yanni doesn’t see…
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Rachel Miyazaki at Niji Sweets
Today I’m chatting with Rachel Miyazaki from Niji Sweets. If you’ve walked through Queen Vic Market lately, you might have stopped in your tracks at a stall that looks more like a jewellery counter than a lolly stand: trays of shimmering kohakutou, those jewel-like Japanese sweets that catch the light and your imagination all at once.…
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Luke Vu at Luke’s Bánh Mì
When Luke’s Bánh Mì opened in the CBD, the response was extraordinary. Queues ran down Little Bourke Street, and more than 1,200 bánh mì were sold that first day. In fact, customers were averaging two or three each, so the real number was far higher. I went to the preview and then couldn’t resist coming…
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Julien Pascal & Julien Wurtlin at Babines
Collingwood has no shortage of bars, but Babines stands out, thanks to the two Juliens behind it: Julien Pascal and Julien Wurtlin. When I first went in not long after they opened a year and a half ago (on the recommendation of a French friend, naturally), I was hooked: the cocktails, the tapenade soldiers, the…
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Sunny Gilbert at Hofbrauhaus
I’ve spoken to Sunny Gilbert at Melbourne’s Hofbrauhaus before and it was such a delight to catch up with him again, especially at this time of year. He’d just flown back from Munich, where Oktoberfest really is as big, loud and joyful as everyone says: ten beer tents, each crammed with 10,000 people, steins thudding…