Master of Middle Eastern cuisine Shane Delia opens Maha East on Chapel St

Celebrity chef Shane Delia is gearing up to serve french fries for the first time — and he can’t wait. Dished up with a Middle Eastern twist, the new fare stars alongside classics and unique additions at his dream venue, set to open in Windsor.

Some of the dishes on the menu at Maha East.

Award-winning chef Shane Delia is finally able to add french fries to the menu.

“I can’t wait. It’s the first restaurant I’ve had where I can serve them,” the master of Middle Eastern cuisine said.

“They’ll be shoe string style and topped with my Dad’s za atar and kefalograviera.”

Delia is about to open his dream venue in Windsor — Maha East.

The eatery, which has room for 40 diners, is being created in the space that was once home to his second Biggie Smalls restaurant — the first is still open in Collingwood.

He said the restaurant — a sister to his flagship Middle Eastern venue, Maha, in Bond St, Melbourne — was “the kind of place I have always wanted to have”.

“(It will be a) relaxed neighbourhood venue with great food and booze and impeccable service,” he said.

Delia says the Maha East menu will be “Middle Eastern’ish” with some unusual additions.

Maha East’s shell pasta.

“I’ve got a pasta dish on there,” he said.

“It’s shell pasta because my Mum always used shell pasta when we were growing up.

“I’ve put torn chicken, cavolo nero, lardo, aleppo pepper and preserved lemon with it.”

He said about 30 per cent of the menu would be dishes from the original Maha with the rest unique to the new venue.

“We’ve been working on one meze dish in particular for ages and I’m really excited about it,” Delia said.

“I think it’s going to be one of those show stoppers that people come here to try.”

That dish features fried buns stuffed with taramasalata, coated with dill and topped with salmon caviar.

“It looks and tastes amazing,” Delia said.

A new dish to the menu, fried buns stuffed with taramasalata and topped with caviar.

The new venue was also a chance to train staff, he said.

“The logo for Maha is the lion and we’re saying that Maha East will be where our staff come to sharpen their claws,” Delia said.

“I’ll have some of my most senior people working at the new venue … I’ll be there too, four nights a week.

“We’ll be able to work with the younger, less experienced staff which we can’t do at Maha because it’s just too big and busy.”

Delia said Maha East was perfect for people “like him”.

“Chapel St has a fantastic food scene. It’s loud and fun and vibrant,” he said.

“But there’s not a lot there for people who are a little older — like me — who want to meet up with friends, eat great food, and listen to tunes they recognise while still being able to hear each other.

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“We’re also family friendly with a kid’s menu that simplifies our existing dishes into something they want to eat.”

Delia said while there were plenty of restaurants towards the top of the strip there weren’t as many options at the Dandenong Rd end.

“There are so many people living around here in Caulfield North, St Kilda East and even Elsternwick.

“Realistically by the time they get all the way up Chapel St to somewhere like France Soir they may as well have gone into the city.”

Maha East opens Thursday, June 27 at 36 Chapel St, Windsor.

It will offer a daily dinner service and lunch on weekends.

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