Our 10 favourite new Melbourne restaurant and bar openings of the year (so far)

One thing we do know: 2024 will not go down as a boom year for hospitality. There are fewer openings, a concerning number of closures, and many businesses are just holding on through a tough, quiet winter.

Another thing we’re sure of: restaurant people are resilient, creative and infused with the belief that what they do matters. We couldn’t agree more. So, at this mid-point of the year, we’ve surveyed the dining landscape, assessed the new and the novel, and distilled 10 key trends that show what’s great about Melbourne hospitality right now, and where it might be going. All of them give us hope, make us happy and reignite our belief that, even in tricky times, Melbourne is still one of the world’s great cities for snacking, dining and drinking.

The small bar sibling

The exemplary opening: Bar Olo

165 Nicholson Street, Carlton, barolocarlton.com.au

Anthony Scutella was trying to solve a problem 15 years in the making: where to send Scopri (one of Melbourne’s most beloved Italian restaurants) customers for an aperitivo or digestivo. But in opening a holding bar nearby, with Bar Olo he also unwittingly hit a nerve among diners.

When dinner feels too frivolous but staying at home is getting stale, you need an in-between option. Somewhere with no minimum spends and no questions asked about your intentions. Enter the restaurant spin-off.

Bar Olo looks gorgeous enough to feel like a treat, has restaurant-quality service and food, but can be used in any way you want. It joins a steady march of new-wave bars opened by skillful restaurateurs, with fewer strings attached than their main venues. Do we call it the diffusion line, a resto-bar or a micro-restaurant? The jury’s out on that part.

Honourable mentions: Rumi’s Rocket Society in Brunswick East; Alta’s Enoteca Zingara in Fitzroy; Mister Bianco’s Bianchetto in Kew; Enter Via Laundry’s front bar in Carlton North; Ceylon Cricketers Club above Hopper Joint (coming soon to Prahran).

South Asian explosion

The exemplary opening: Toddy Shop

Rear, 191a Smith Street, Fitzroy, marthandenhotel.com

Butter chicken is out, pork fry is in. Eating Indian doesn’t have to mean filling up on standard north Indian curries any more, with a new wave of regional Indian and Sri Lankan restaurants expanding the repertoire and the pleasures.

Toddy Shopis a cheery expression of the Keralan toddy shop, a casual south-Indian eatery known for a quick-brewed liquor made from coconut or palm sap, and spicy food, such as dry-fried pork. The cosy Fitzroy version is from local chef Mischa Tropp who is cooking affordable, home-style dishes from Kerala, such as his mum’s curry-leaf cabbage stir-fry, comfort food like an onion-rich tamarind-spiked curry with fried eggs, and cocktails that remix south Indian flavours. Case in point: the “gold fashioned” with bourbon, jaggery and turmeric.

Honourable mentions: Hopper Joint, Prahran; Enter Via Laundry’s bar, Carlton North; Bibi Ji, Carlton

Tinier and tinier

The exemplary opening: Emerald City

207 Maroondah Highway, Healesville, emeraldcityhealesville.com

More chefs are rethinking traditional dining and experimenting with very small restaurants where interaction is a key part of the experience. Joel Alderdice moved from the 60-seat winery restaurant at Tarrawarra to four-seat Emerald City, hidden out the back of Cavanagh’s Whisky and Alehouse in Healesville.

It’s intimate and special: many sittings are booked out by people celebrating a birthday or anniversary and Alderdice is adept at engaging or melting into the background, depending on the mood. His tasting menu is a succession of punchy snacks: one highlight is halloumi made especially for Emerald City by local cheesemakers Stone & Crow, fried in front of diners and drizzled with hot whisky honey to serve.

Honourable mentions: Shusai Mijo, Fitzroy (8 seats); Prova, Thornbury (14 seats), Chameshi Zenka, West Melbourne (2 seats)

Focaccia bars: the new bougie bakery

The exemplary opening: Zita’s

16 Toorak Road, South Yarra, zitasfocaccia.com

The focaccia sandwich, just like cargo pants and butterfly clips, has been resurrected by a new generation. They’ve left the dried oregano and sun-dried tomatoes in the 1990s, instead favouring taller, fluffier, squishier bread.

The new focaccia is more likely to be served fresh, with fancy fillings stacked to implausible heights. There’s classically Italian mortadella, taleggio cheese and prosciutto, but lamb sausage and even octopus have been spotted between bread.

The only downside? “Grabbing” a sandwich is now an oxymoron, as some focaccia bars, such as JuJu’s Deli and Zita’s, embrace the old-school lunch bar model of making (and even baking!) to order.

Honourable mentions: Juju’s Deli, Thornbury; Lil Lane, CBD; 3 Salamis, Essendon; FOC, CBD.

The super specialists

The exemplary opening: Sebastian Kakigori

203 Queen Street, Melbourne, sebastiankakigori.com.au

If you’re shipping ice from Japan, you’re probably pretty serious about making the coolest cold treats in town. Sebastian Kakigori is one of a number of one-dish specialists betting that diners prefer obsessive expertise over choice, at least sometimes.

In this case, it’s kakigori, a Japanese shaved ice dessert. Chef Hiroshi Kawamata has moved from Tokyo to Melbourne to open Sebastian, bringing his signature creme brulee kakigori with him. To create this $35 sweet treat, easily shareable between two, Kawamata starts with a block of clear, bubble-free ice from Kanazawa, made using pure water from the sacred peak of Mount Hakusan.

He shaves the ice with a special machine − coarse first, then fluffy and snowy − paints the surface with meringue, then a layer of sugar, which he then brulees with a blowtorch. Burning a bowl of ice is fun, crazy and theatrical; eating it is pure, ephemeral pleasure. See also the rose and strawberry creation.

Honourable mentions: Sanhe Congee, West Melbourne; Lulu and Me Cheesecakes, Collingwood; Da Paolo Pizza pop-up.

Pub and pubber

The exemplary opening: North Fitzroy Arms

296 Rae Street, Fitzroy North, northfitzroyarms.com.au

Like bangers and mash, or a pie, chips and beer, there are magnetic forces drawing together Melburnians and the pub right now. Most nights, punters spill out of the latest backstreet boozer to be given new sheen, the North Fitzroy Arms. And operators are flocking to the pub, with Hawthorn’s Beehive the next in line for a makeover by a hospitality group.

The North Fitz has mastered the old-new balance that’s driven all successful pub makeovers of the last decade or so, with a raffish front bar giving way to a dining room full of design cues from French bistros. There’s a thoughtful drinks list that goes far beyond beer, old-school flourishes like chore coats on staff and candlelight, and no-nonsense pub essentials like a pool table and fish and chips. But there’s just enough “2024” on the menu, such as an ethically sourced “retired dairy cow” beef patty in the burger.

Honourable mentions: Geelong’s Petrel Hotel; The Albion, Collingwood; Springrock, CBD; Beehive, Hawthorn (coming soon)

Here for the community

The exemplary opening: Gemini

158 Sydney Road, Coburg, geminimelbourne.com

Every canny business owner looks for a lack and fills it with something appealing, but not all of them have as much personal motivation as Tresna Lee and Shane Farrell, the owners of Gemini. The Coburg locals didn’t think it was right that they had to head out of their suburb to find the kind of all-day cafe, bar and restaurant that they hankered for. So they did what any of us would do: sold their house, bought an old socialist book room, and turned it into the community hub of their dreams. Here for the long haul, Gemini aims to be threaded through locals’ lives: there are shelves of pantry essentials, coworking Fridays with unlimited filter coffee, catch-ups where you can turn up alone to meet near neighbours, and happy hours with $3 oysters and $16 martinis (laugh-cryingly called The Broque Era). Of course, those way out of the postcode are also welcome for snacks (don’t miss the spiced nuts), meals (crumbed celeriac with harissa is rocking the winter menu) and conversation.

Honourable mentions: The Walrus, St Kilda; Bistra, Carlton;Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen, Warburton

Pride of plate

The exemplary opening: Papelon

Unit 190, 81 Hopkins Street, Footscray, instagram.com/papelonmelbourne

Papelon has the distinction of being Melbourne’s only Venezuelan restaurant, part of a small community of Latin American restaurants in the city. But owner Reveka Hurtado joins a raft of others dipping into their memories, their family’s culture and beloved regional specialties to present their spin on Korean, Palestinian, Nepalese, Nigerian and more. These restaurateurs are exploring all of it, even the unsexy stuff or dishes that may confound outsiders.

Filipino restaurant Askal is named after the street-dogs that are celebrated in the Philippines for their grit and adaptability.

Eat Pierogi Make Love is embracing the cabbage, potatoes and sausages of Poland.

Spots like these and Papelon might be where some people get their first taste, or they might be a long-awaited taste of home − their owners don’t mind, as long as you’re meeting them on their terms.

Honourable mentions: Askal CBD; Doju CBD; Falastini, Preston; Little Lagos, Fitzroy; Eat Pierogi Make Love, Brunswick East

All things to all people

Molli & Little Molli

20 Mollison Street, Abbotsford, molliabbotsford.com.au

Crammed into a single Abbotsford corner is a bistro, cafe, grocer, deli, sandwich shop and bar. How?Molli (and sibling Little Molli) is a chameleon venue, a clever model that aims to be the answer to whatever diners need.

Staying in? Come to us for salumi and cheese, they say. Only up for a morning coffee? We know your order. Splashing out? We’ll chill the champagne.

Summing it up as “Grab and go, stay and snack”, Molli’s creators The Mulberry Group will explore the concept again later this year with Sarafian, the deli linked to chef Tom Sarafian’s more formal debut restaurant Zareh.

Honourable mentions: the day-to-night trifecta that is Ca Com, Jeow and Anchovy in Richmond; Emilietta sandwich bar tucked inside Trattoria Emilia.

Very special specials

The exemplary offering: Lasagne at Stokehouse Pasta and Bar

30 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda, stokepastaandbar.com.au

The winter chill can be great news for diners as restaurants attempt to lure us off the couch with delicious deals. We’re spotting free snacks (Torino Aperitivo), endless chook (Henrietta’s), bottomless dumplings (Dimmy Su at The Hall) and a $30 comfort food feast at Stokehouse Pasta and Bar.

Every Wednesday night, the seaside icon sates hump-day hunger with a generous slab of lasagne and a side of bay view. That’s followed up by a big scoop of tiramisu. Need to dine at nanna o’clock and head home to the doona? No problem: bookings start at 5pm. It’s available until the weather warms up.

Honourable mentions: Attica’s “Snacks With” series; free BYO nights at Lee Ho Fook and Julie; $15 lunches at Maha