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Mike Jacques at Tarra, Queenscliff and Onda, Sorrento
When I arrived at Tarra, Mike Jacques was in the thick of service. Mike is executive chef for Searoad Hospitality, overseeing Tarra in Queenscliff, Onda in Sorrento, the ferry offerings and now Wilsons Prom too. We spoke about Tarra as a “postcard for the Bellarine Peninsula”, and Onda as its Mediterranean-leaning counterpart across the bay:…
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Josh Smith, Tammy & Rob Charter at The Queenscliff Hotel
I’ve always had a soft spot for Queenscliff. Every year, we make our pilgrimage down for the Queenscliff Music Festival, pitch our tent on the footy oval, and live very happily for a few days on music, festival food and that particular seaside feeling the town does so well. So to arrive this time and…
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Kevin Peiris at Killik Handcrafted Rum
Tucked into the trees along Monbulk Road in Belgrave, Killik Handcrafted Rum is more than just a place to drink; it’s a destination where small-batch spirits, ambitious food, and a warm, intimate atmosphere come together. When we visited, we were seated in a gorgeous private room with a crackling log burner and views out to…
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Laura Boulton at Heide Kitchen
I drove out to Heide Museum of Modern Art on one of those moody Melbourne days where the sky feels low and the landscape seems to have been arranged by a painter. Which, at Heide, it sort of has. Sitting out the back in the museum office, looking out the window, the view felt like…
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Shane Reeves at The Gilroy
I sat down with Shane Reeves at The Gilroy on Bay Street in Port Melbourne, a place I could easily walk to, given I live just down the road, but one that’s absolutely worth the drive or the ride on the 109 tram. Tucked into a quieter stretch of the street, The Gilroy is a…
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Jithin Pattiyal at Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen
Seated outside at Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen, beside the warmth of the fire pit and surrounded by the hills of Warburton, I first spoke with owner Billy Crombie. As the conversation continued, chef Jithin Pattiyal joined me, sharing his journey from Kerala to Australia and offering insight into the authentic, carefully crafted approach to cooking that…
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Billy Crombie at Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen
Billy Crombie and husband Max (Mohammed) Kamil Hassan don’t run a typical regional restaurant. At Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen, set in a restored 1936 cabaret hall on the edge of Warburton in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, they have built something closer to a cultural bridge, and, for many Southern Indians, a portal back home. In this conversation,…
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Mauro Callegari
There’s a particular kind of welcome you only find in places built slowly and with intent, and that’s exactly what I walked into at The Independent in Gembrook. Mauro Callegari has shaped this former mechanics’ garage into something unmistakably his; part restaurant, part gathering place, part expression of a life spent cooking and travelling across…
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Franck Sammut at Upper Middle
I sat down with Franck Sammut, the quietly charismatic force behind Upper Middle in South Melbourne, a new baguette‑and‑pizza spot that already feels like a neighbourhood favourite. Franck has spent his whole life in hospitality, from working in his dad’s restaurant as a teenager to decades on the floor in some of Melbourne’s most iconic…
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Justin North at The Angel Of Malvern
There’s a lovely kind of magic when an old neighbourhood pub finds its heartbeat again, and that’s exactly what’s happened at The Angel of Malvern. After three quiet years, the doors are open, the locals are back, and the buzz is real. Downstairs it’s all about elevated pub classics done properly: brined schnitties, light calamari,…