Conversations
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Thant Aung & Aaron Kher at Hinata Premium Sushi and Sashimi
Tucked away in a little shopping village in Beaumaris, Hinata Premium Sushi and Sashimi is a neighbourhood Japanese restaurant where chef and owner Thant Aung brings almost two decades of experience to a menu of beautifully fresh sushi and sashimi, hand rolls, comforting curries and generous Japanese meals. Thant’s journey began washing dishes at a…
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Deepak Mishra at Bungalow 147 By the Bay
Williamstown was buzzing when I drove over to meet chef Deepak Mishra. The sun was out; the waterfront was busy and finding a car park took longer than the drive from Port Melbourne. A few blocks back from the bay, I found myself admiring the old cottages and streetscapes before heading to Bungalow 147 By the…
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Emily Soley at Love Letter to the Inner North
There was a queue out the door when I arrived at Dear Neighbour on Smith Street for the opening of Emily Soley’s exhibition, A Love Letter to the Inner North. I remember looking around at the crowd and thinking, this is so Melbourne. Thirty-one beautiful watercolour illustrations of the pubs, restaurants, cafes and neighbourhood institutions that…
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Arrnott Olssen at The Kana Club
There’s something rather lovely about starting a Sunday morning talking about food, particularly when the conversation takes you all the way to Fiji. Arrnott Olssen was in Sydney, coffee in hand, still recovering from the previous day’s Fiji Day celebrations and a very generous helping of lovo, the traditional Fijian feast cooked in an earth…
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Rob Kabboord at Rühe
I first spoke to Rob Kabboord six years ago, before COVID upended Melbourne hospitality and changed the shape of the industry. A lot has happened since then. Rob has cooked, travelled, collaborated, co-written a play and, somewhere along the way, made the move to regional Victoria. Now he is part of Rühe alongside sommelier Daniel…
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Sumalee Sae-tang, Manpreet Singh & Sahakorn Sanitmacharo at Ladyboy
Once I’d switched off the recorder at Ladyboy, Sumalee Sae-tang and Manpreet Singh very kindly brought out some dishes from their new Beyond Bangkok menu for me to try. As we talked over the food, Sumalee began to tell me more about how much she loves what she does. I also had the chance to…
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Jeremy Sutphin Executive Chef at The Ganley Group
There’s something very grounded about the way Jeremy Sutphin talks about food. He grew up in the American South around big gardens, smoked meats, family cooking and that wonderful idea of Southern hospitality, where feeding people is simply part of life. Now, 20 years into living in Melbourne, he’s overseeing a growing group of pubs…
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Andrea Viglani at Al Dente Enoteca
Stepping off Nicholson Street into Al Dente Enoteca, I was immediately taken with the exposed brick, the wall of wine and the rare quiet of a restaurant between services. Andrea calls this stretch Melbourne’s “Italian Golden Mile”, with neighbours Scopri and Bar Olo helping make it a very good street to be hungry on. He…
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Ryan Dunn at Langlands Hyatt Centric Melbourne
I had never been up to Langlands, 25 floors above Melbourne in the Hyatt Centric. Ryan Dunn knows it can be a little too well hidden. With the dining room now opened up to the skyline, we sat looking over the wave of Southern Cross Station’s roof and talked about what he and chef Richard…
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Pieter Buijsse at Rah Dining
When I spoke to Pieter Buijsse in 2022, he was appearing on under-30 chef lists and attracting plenty of attention. He’s still only 32, but now he’s a co-owner of a new Chapel Street restaurant, with the keys in his hand and an opening date to work towards. Rah Dining takes its cue from the…