New modern Asian restaurant Chiki Chan opens in Mordialloc
Eating at Mordialloc’s vibrant new modern Asian restaurant is more “fun” than “fine” dining — with the owners bringing a taste of city to the suburbs.
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Eating at Chiki Chan is more “fun” than “fine”.
Johnny Jong has spent his career working in some of the country’s biggest restaurants — and is now bringing a taste of the big smoke to Mordialloc.
Jong previously worked at Crown as its executive sous chef for its Melbourne and Sydney hotels, and as a group chef for Lucas Restaurants.
But after falling in love with a shabby old venue in the bayside suburb, he’s turned the space into an upbeat modern Asian restaurant and bar.
“The name (Chiki Chan) came out of nowhere,” he said.
“It sounds fun, naughty and describes the type of cooking we do.”
At Chiki, executive chef Kelvyn Yeoh (also Crown, Lucas Restaurants) challenges tradition with zany ingredient mashups.
“Our food takes traditional Asian flavours and gives them a modern, western touch,” he said.
“I’ve found chefs are copying each other (across the city) and that’s not something I wanted to do.”
Expect burrata and fennel jam drizzled in numbing Sichuan chilli oil or raw tuna chilli, tamarind and Vietnamese mint packed into Indian snack pani puri shells.
An early crowd favourite has also been beef fat rice served with a wand of bone marrow in a stone bowl.
“We want to give people wow-factor and something they’ve never tried before,” Jong said.
Inside Chiki Chan lives Hiki Bar, where diners can enjoy a few pre or post-dinner cocktails and tapas.
“The reaction (from diners) is hard to explain, as they haven’t tried anything like this before — but this is exactly what we wanted to do,” Jong said.
Chiki Chan, 2/6 Centreway, Mordialloc, open Wed to Sun, from 12pm till late. chikichan.com.au
Put some sizzle in your sanger with these beer snags
Beer and sausages are the ingredients required for a knockout AFL Grand Final long weekend.
And thanks to Richmond’s The Butcher Club, you can enjoy both in supermarket white while watching the big dance.
Father-son butchers Peter and Corey Robinson wanted to add some sizzle to their famous snags, so spiked them with the Victorian pub staple drink.
“We get asked about them almost every day, so our beer sausages are back for a third year, and they’re better than ever,” Corey said.
“They are made to enjoy alongside a cold Carlton Draught.”
The beef and pork sausages are made with a splash of booze, spices and meal to hold the flavour in the meat so they don’t burst onto the barbie during cooking.
The Carlton Draught sausages are available in kilo ($19.99) and half-kilo packs ($9.99) at Butcher Club stores until after the grand final.
Francophiles rejoice at St Kilda’s wine fest
Pop the champagne.
Melbourne’s favourite French festival is raising a glass to a new wine event toasting the country’s top tipples.
So Frenchy So Chic will debut two-day drinking fest Le Grape Escape in Melbourne this weekend, pouring only the finest French drops at St Kilda Town Hall.
More than 100 wineries from the country’s applauded 13 regions — including Alsace, Bourdeaux, Burgundy, Chablis, Beaujolais and the Rhone Valley — will be on show.
Event founder Jean-Francois Ponthieux has teamed up with celebrated former France Soir sommelier Pierre Stock to curate the extensive drinks list.
Stock said there would be something for everyone.
“There are some classic wines that showcase the terroirs and specific characteristics of the grapes, as well as some modern winemaking with little intervention, pushing the limits of biodynamic practices,” he said.
There will also be a suite of masterclass on world-class region Bordeaux hosted by Mr Bordeaux aka Daniel Airoldi, as well as food by Pinchy’s Champagne and Lobster Bar, Pearl Chablis and Oyster Bar, L Hotel Gitan and Long Paddock Cheese.
Tickets start at $50 per person and include a free wine glass on arrival and unlimited tastings. Wine by the glass and bottles are available at cost price.
Sessions held Friday September 20 from 5pm to 9pm, Saturday 11am to 3pm and 4pm to 8pm. sofrenchysochic.com
How to try Carlton bakery’s ‘timeless’ Disney treats
Have a madeleine, be our guest, Madeleine De Proust pastries truly are the best.
Pastry power couple Rong Yao Soh and Hyoju Park’s French classics have been selling like hot cakes since opening their Carlton shop last November.
Now there’s another reason to visit — four bespoke flavours inspired by Disney’s Beauty and the Beast the Musical, showing at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
“I had an amazing childhood watching Disney animations every Sunday. That was my happiness as a child,” Hyojou said.
“When we were approached to collab, we were thrilled.”
The London-trained pastry chefs spent many hours developing and testing the four unique flavours. There’s a simple trio of chocolate-coated madeleines with Learn to Love.
The most striking is the enchanted rose; a rose-shaped dark chocolate madeleine filled with raspberry jam, pistachio, vanilla-whipped ganache, finished in white chocolate.
While The Beast is perhaps the most challenging — made with a gluten-free chocolate madeleine and filled with hazelnut buttercream and praline, coated in velvet chocolate mix and finished with textural embossing and rose gold garnish.
As for the most popular?
“The Belle. Inside we use yuzu base, a hint of honey and fill with vanilla buttercream, finished in white chocolate and red rose chocolate garnish,” Hyojou said.
Brendan Xavier, who plays the Beast in the hit musical, gave them his stamp of approval: “We got to try the treats at MDP just before they announced the partnership –how lucky are we? Delicious.”
The madeleines are available until the end of October. Prices start at $17.
Tickets are on sale for Beauty and the Beast performances until February 2025.
beautyandthebeastmusical.com.au
Celebrity chef ropes in star mates for $15 pasta dinner deal
Hot on the heels of his $15 Maha lunch bowl success, celebrity chef Shane Delia has another trick up his sleeve.
He’s invited eight of his chef mates – including Scott Pickett, Toddy Shop’s Mischa Tropp and Chin Chin’s Ben Cooper – to whip up a $15 ARAB’iata pasta special at Maha East until November.
The only catch? The deal will only be available for weekday dinners between Monday to Wednesday.
“We get it, it’s tough out there and people still want to dine out and enjoy Melbourne restaurants,” Delia told Kitchen Confidential.
“Everyone loves pasta and … each chef has to make a pasta dish that isn’t Italian and has an Arab spin to it.”
Star Melbourne chefs in the weekly line up include Rumi’s Joseph Abboud, Navi’s Julian Hills and Ides’ Pete Gunn.
Delia will kick things off with a pan-fried halloumi dish flecked with mint, roasted tomatoes, garlic, cumin-spiced lamb and pine nuts.
Gunn will sling brown butter mac and cheese speckled in caramelised dukkah, while Cooper plans to put his Chin Chin spin on things.
“He’s making a coconut-braised lamb manti (tiny Turkish dumplings) with a curry type sauce with fried basil.”
Much like Maha’s Bowls of Goodness month-long lunch special – which eventually ran for 12 weeks due to overwhelming demand – Delia said he won’t be making any money from this deal.
“You can’t make money off $15 meals, you can barely go to your local Chinese and get a bowl of rice, chicken and bok choy for that,” he said.
“We’re all about creating great experiences for my team, and giving customers something back, while bringing people to our restaurant, plus having a bit of fun.”
Maha East’s ‘ARAB’iata pasta special runs September 16 to November 6, Monday to Wednesdays from 5pm.
‘Timeless’ Indian restaurant opens in Carnegie
After taking over Fitzroy and St Kilda, the Mukka story is writing a new chapter in Carnegie.
Good Old Mukka is the third restaurant by Kabir Singh, who initially came to Australia for a month-long stay in 2020.
The Indian restaurant is a love-letter to Singh’s home country, with authentic curries, dosas, roti and street food thrown into the mix.
“Good Old Mukka” served its first biryani on Friday.
Singh bought the original Mukka restaurant, on Brunswick St, from owners Prateek and Aditya Dhawan and their mother Rekha, as Melbourne plunged into its first Covid lockdown.
In four years, he has grown the family business and opened a St Kilda outpost, Mukka 2.0, in 2023.
Good Old Mukka, 3/23 Koornang Rd, Carnegie. Open Tue-Fri 10am-3pm, 5.30pm-10pm, Weekends: 10am to 10pm.
How you can eat unlimited cake this weekend
“Cake smarter, not harder”.
Frankston South cake boss Thao Armstrong’s baking motto has served her well over the years.
The amateur baker turned social media star was at the forefront of Melbourne’s modern buttercream movement in 2014 with her business Don’t Tell Charles.
With an enviable global Instagram following of 210,000 people, Armstrong went on to travel the globe hosting cake making workshops in Singapore and London.
After recalibrating her business post-Covid, Armstrong is returning to the stage to host a series of demos at the city’s first Festival of Cake event this weekend.
The two-day event is run by the Australian Cake Decorating Network and features a swath of local and international bakers and creators.
They’ll host cooking demos and sweet stalls, giving us the perfect excuse to eat cake and be merry.
“My whole approach to teaching is to cake smarter, not harder,” Armstrong said.
“Everything is streamlined and designed to save time. There are steps (in the recipe process) you don’t need to do … if you understand the science behind it.”
Armstrong wants to break down the preconceived ideas people have around baking – including the need to stand up while at the kitchen counter.
“In a lot of bakeries, there is this assumption you need to stand up to make a cake,” she said.
“I’ve done 12-hour days and my feet were killing me – who says you need to stand up? I often make many of my students sit down on stools in workshops.”
Other bakers at the event include My Kitchen Rules winner Janelle Halil from Sassy Sprinkles and The Great Australian Bake Off star Monica Cavallaro.
Save Me Some Sweets, Georgia and Ella, Miss Biscuit, Sophia Mya, Digby Cakes and Cakes With K will also serve their sweet treats at the event.
Festival of Cake founder Liz Wright said she was looking forward to the cake fest.
“I’m excited to be creating an event for cake decorators, hobbyists and professionals, and those that love to eat cake, to celebrate our industry and support small businesses,” she said.
Festival of Cake, September 21-22, Timber Yards Port Melbourne from 10am to 4pm. Tickets $40 per person. austcakedecoratingnetwork.com/festival-of-cake
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