Listen & Subscribe
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
SoundCloud-
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…
-
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…
-
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.…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Lorcán Kan at Etta
Lorcán Kan has one of those reputations that precedes him, not in the loud, headline-grabbing way, but in the quiet way that matters more. Mention his name to other chefs and their response is usually the same: “He’s such a lovely guy.” Kan, head chef at Etta in Brunswick East, carries that reputation with the…
-
Eleftheria Amanatidis at Eleni’s Kitchen & Bar
I’m upstairs at Eleni’s Kitchen & Bar in Yarraville with Eleftheria Amanatidis. The room feels like a taverna: a criss cross of dark beams, low light, and the sense that food is at the centre of everything. Eleftheria has captured not just the dishes of her Yiayias and Papous, but the atmosphere too: the smells,…
-
Kyle Nicol
When I first spoke to Kyle Nicol back in late 2020, he was head chef at Rascal, and Melbourne was lurching in and out of lockdown. He was already thinking deeply about sustainability in kitchens, not just in terms of produce, but of chefs themselves. Five years on, Kyle’s covered a lot of ground: Lilac,…
-
Brooke Silk at Dine in by Brooke Silk
Brooke is a pastry chef with a flair for precision and a competitive streak that’s taken her from Sydney kitchens to the World Food Championships in Indianapolis, where her buttermilk cheesecake earned her third place in the world for dessert. She’s now preparing to return in October to take out the top spot all while…