Kitchen Confidential food news stories 2024
She’s behind one of the city’s smallest, in-demand restaurants that once boasted an 8000-person waitlist. Now Chae is making a surprise career move.
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The chef behind Melbourne’s tiniest restaurant is releasing her first cookbook.
Korean chef Jung Eun Chae will launch the self-titled guide to slow Korean food and fermentation next month, via Hardie Grant.
Chae’s kitchen career exploded after opening a six-seater eatery inside her tiny one-bedroom Brunswick apartment in 2019.
The restaurant was so popular it at one stage boasted an 8000-person waitlist.
Chae has since moved to the roomier Cockatoo outpost, but continues to take six-guests per sitting to preserve the intimacy of the experience.
In her debut cookbook ‘Chae’, the chef follows the seasons of the year, sharing recipes inspired by her mother which pair traditional Korean techniques with Australian produce.
Some recipes traditional soy bean paste, persimmon vinegar, gochujang (red chilli paste), ganjang (soy sauce) and watermelon rind kimchi.
Chae is released July 31, RRP: $60
Chapel St cafes up sanger stakes this winter
From the steak-frites-filled, lasagne-loaded to the Yorkshire pudding wrapped.
These Chapel St eateries are pulling out all stops to take the Best Toastie title.
More than 30 cafes and restaurants along and off the famous strip have put their best sanger forward for the Best Toastie category in the annual Chapel Champions Awards.
Bangin Sangas’ Ross Howse, sandwich influencer and awards ambassador, has tasted the majority of entries in this year’s awards.
“I’ve tasted a lot of the same types of sangers over the years, so it was great to see cafes step outside of the box with some creative flavours,” he said.
“Abacus has a kangaroo and truffle toastie, made with dry-aged kangaroo, bechamel sauce and truffles, which is different to your bog-standard chicken schnitzel sandwich and chips.”
Naughty Nancy’s toastie creation reimagines the Sunday roast.
“I didn’t think it’ll work, but all the flavours work together — it was fresh, salty and a hearty winter creation in one. It hit the spot.”
While French restaurant Entrecote’s entry is an ode to its signature steak frites.
“It’s one of my favourite things to eat,” Howse said.
The council-run awards encourage local businesses to design an obscure toastie flavour to generate local buzz and win a $5000 cash and marketing package.
Businesses can nominate themselves, or be nominated, from June 26 until July 10.
Public voting on all entrants opens on Friday, July 12 until July 26.
Stonnington Mayor Joe Gianfriddo said: “Chapel Street is an ever-evolving precinct that upholds its iconic status on a global scale thanks to businesses new and old that continue to offer world-class services and products.”
“It’s time to recognise the local businesses you love by voting for your favourites and encouraging your friends and family to do the same.”
All winners will be announced the week commencing July 29.
Vote now at: chapelstreet.com.au
Chefs knighted for service to French food
Celebrity chef Scott Pickett is one of six Melbourne hospitality figures being honoured for their commitment to French gastronomy.
The celebrated TV chef was awarded a Medal of Agriculture Merit by the French Ambassador to Australia in a lavish ceremony in Collingwood on Monday night.
Pickett joined a long-list of recipients — remarkably, all from Melbourne — including iconic chef Philippe Mouchel, presenter Gabriel Gate, Bocuse d’Or Australia finalist and Melbourne Park executive chef Alexander McIntosh, pastry king Pierrick Boyerand sommelier Christian Maier.
In an incredible feat for the local hospitality scene — only two Australian chefs have been acknowledged for their commitment to the cuisine by the French government in the past three years.
This year’s annual awards are held in conjunction with the Goût de France campaign, returning after a five-year hiatus.
The month-long campaign boasts a calendar of French-themed events celebrating the global food city in Australia.
The Medals of Agriculture Merit come in three grades: knight, officer and commander.
Pickett, McIntosh, Boyer and Maier will receive ‘knight’ status or Chevalier de l’Ordre national du mérite Agricole medals, while after at least five years Gate and Mouchel will move up from “knight” to “officer” rankings with an Officer de l’Ordre national du mérite Agricole medal.
The event will be held at Pickett’s Smith Street Bistrot from 5pm Monday.
Brunswick bakery hits sweet milestone
Helena Witte’s colourful bakes take the cake.
The Yarraville fashion-buyer turned bake queen’s sweet lockdown hustle Bakes By Her is rising to the occasion after years of slog.
Her eye-popping, vintage-style cakes have built a cult social media following, soaring to 88,000 Instagram followers and more than half-a-million TikTok views on one post alone.
And they aren’t just selling like, well, hot cakes on the influencer circuit — Helena is also collaborating with big-name Melbourne brands Naked Vice, Hi Smile and more.
“I find myself really lucky that I’m in a job I love doing. It really excites me,” she said.
Helena’s passion for baking and creating was born during Covid.
“I started baking at home and spent all my spare time making these cakes and posting to Instagram. Then I started taking them to work and it grew from there,” she said.
She later quit her job as a fashion buyer to launch Bakes By Her and open a kitchen studio in Brunswick. She’s also hired two employees and has plans to grow in the future.
“I always have plans to make the business bigger and better, but at the moment I like the way the business is structured. Do I want a bigger space? Maybe down the track. I don’t want (BBH) to get so big it’s not personal anymore.”
Bakes By Her sells eight flavours, with either a lemon, vanilla and chocolate base, each iced in Swiss meringue buttercream.
Helena said her cakes taste like a delicious mix between mud and sponge cakes.
Bakes by Her is celebrating its first birthday next Saturday with a one-off, open-to-the-public sale from 9am.
“We’re going to make loads of cake, sold by the slice, and people can come in and fill up their tubs with delicious goodies,” she said.
Bakes by Her, 210 Albion Street, Brunswick, bakesbyher.com.au
Gazi makes nostalgic comeback
Celebrity chef George Calombaris is bringing Gazi back.
The Greek street food fave, famous for feta chips and wavy terracotta pot ceiling, is popping up at his Highett restaurant, The Hellenic House Project, this July.
Calombaris, who last month reunited with his MasterChef mates, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan, to host a Bowel Cancer Australia fundraising lunch, said the Gazi comeback was equally nostalgic.
“Gazi was such a great part of Melbourne’s hospitality scene that we have decided to bring back the nostalgia of the good old days,” Calombaris said.
“Think of the original feta chips, prawn kataifi with tarama, soft shell crab souva, pork with tyrokafteri and of course the Bombe Metaxa.”
The month-long menu takeover will span Hellenic’s downstairs “kitchen” and upstairs “good room”, with weekly meal deals that won’t break the bank.
Expect $20 “all you can eat” souvas and lunch deals, $5 Espressotinis, daily $8 happy hours and $10 sweets and coffee combos.
“The team is super pumped. Gazi was delicious and fun. So, very excited to bring it back this July,” he said.
The Flinders St favourite, which lived in the old Herald Sun building next door to Calombaris’s esteemed The Press Club, closed in 2019 after five years.
The Hellenic House Project, 515 Highett Rd, Highett
Rising-star chef lands new kitchen gig
Rising-star chef Diego Huerta has found a new gig — one year after walking away from toxic South Melbourne restaurant Lume.
The award-winning chef recently found a new home at celebrity chef Shane Delia’s landmark Maha restaurant.
“I feel very lucky to have come into Delia Group and instantly been given a seat at the table,” Huerta said.
Born in Mexico, Huerta is bringing his spin to Maha’s Middle Eastern flavours in the executive chef role.
Previously, Huerta has worked at some of the world’s most exciting Michelin-starred restaurants including Geranium in Copenhagen, and Paris’s Pavillio Ledoyen and Relais Louis Xlll.
Delia continues to oversee Delia Group’s multiple venues alongside group head chef Daniel Giraldo.
Huerta lifted the lid on Lume’s “dark” and “unethical” workplace culture last year, after the Herald Sun revealed the finediner was $1m in debt and owed tens of thousands of dollars to staff and suppliers.
$29 ‘all you can eat’ Thai feast
Lunch deals and “all you can eat” feasts under $30 are a novelty, and surprise luxury, in this cash-strapped climate.
But at Hawthorn’s hidden gem Thai restaurant Vivid Cafe and Lounge, owner Catalina Marcu and “Chef Bird” Nobphadon Kaewkarn doing both – and the locals love it.
“Since we’ve taken over, business has been incredible,” Marcu said.
Marcu and life and business partner Dave Berhardt took over an old Glenferrie Rd cafe last year, running it as a breakfast and lunch spot before tapping into Chef Bird’s Southern Thai heritage and kitchen talents.
“Southern Thai flavours aren’t commonly found in Australia, so Chef Bird added a few dishes that he really liked to the menu. It’s more spicier than typical Thai food, though.”
Expect classics such as housemade curry puffs and coconut prawns, alongside southern Thai treats such as hot and sour fish and pork belly and stink (sator) bean curries.
Vivid still runs as a breakfast spot, but since the start of the year has been open for dinners with an exclusive Thai offering.
Recently it’s added lunches to the mix – including an ‘all you can eat’ weekend special.
“For $29 you can eat as much as you like. Not all dishes are included but some of our most popular dishes such as pad thai and pad see ew are,” she said.
Marcu said the response from the local community had been very positive.
“There was a cafe here beforehand that had a bad reputation, which led us to rebrand when we moved in. We’ve changed the menu and have an amazing superstar chef … and well over a year later people are still only now finding out the place is new.”
Vivid Cafe & Lounge, 616 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn
Kyneton levels up pasta game
Two pasta-loving mates have brought a slice of Italy to Kyneton.
Chef Daniel Whelan and front-of-house extraordinaire Daniel Saligari first met while working at Annie Smithers’ Bistrot.
Saligari then took a gig at Midnight Starling and Whelan went out on his own to open Spaghetti Bar, both in Kyneton.
Earlier this year, the dream team reunited to share their modern take on Italian classics, rebranding Spaghetti Bar to a schmick Italian eatery, Marchesa.
“There’s nothing like this in Kyneton,” Whelan said.
“The menu is heavily influenced by Sicilian and Sardinian cooking. We still do fresh pastas, but we have proteins now.”
The cosy 25-seater has been open since February, but Whelan said he was keen to crack the Melbourne market, especially over winter.
“We’ve been doing really well and we’ve kept a lot of loyal customers (from Spaghetti Bar) but we’re looking to attract more people from Melbourne.”
Whelan said Marchesa was both a place where he could run wild with his kitchen ideas, while filling the void of a quality neighbourhood Italian restaurant.
“(The menu) is my interpretation of classic dishes … so with the vitello tonnato I roast (the meat) instead of poaching it. Think slight tweaks to simple dishes,” he said.
“We try and stay simple and fresh. We don’t want to be too expensive or pretentious.”
So what is Marchesa best known for?
“We have some wild-shot hares on at the moment we’re using in a ravioli special,” he said.
“I can’t seem to take the tiramisu off the menu, either.”
Marchesa isn’t the region’s only new opening, with Trentham’s Still Moon House winery unveiling a shiny new cellar door and tapas bar.
Marchesa, 58A Piper St, Kyneton
Cult crumble dessert is all apples at Grazeland
A build-your-own apple crumble bar is going gangbusters at Grazeland, and did its best trade over summer.
Bianca Meneghetti’s The Crumble Corner has been running hot in Sunbury since October, so much so the organisers of Spotswood’s food mecca wanted a serve of the action.
“The crumble craze has been around social for a while now, but we had nothing like it in Australia,” Meneghetti said.
“I went travelling in Europe last year and was met with surprise that we had nothing like this at home. Australia usually likes pancakes, doughnuts and fro-yo for dessert.”
The sweet winter warmer lets punters “build-their-own” crumble by choosing a base of baked cinnamon-stewed apples, pimped out with a shortbread crumble – available in vegan and gluten free – finished with either custard, ice cream or a dollop of cream.
“Everything is served hot … warm apples and custard. It’s really a winter-based dessert, but in summer we did some of our highest numbers,” she said.
“Apple crumble is one of those things where you taste the nostalgia in every spoonful.”
The Crumble Corner is proving to be one of Grazeland’s most popular food stalls, selling thousands of tubs on the weekend.
Sunbury locals are also embracing the crumble life, with Meneghetti’s shopfront in the industrial Frederick St equally as popular.
“People tell me they’ve driven from Drouin and Geelong for a taste. Some people have driven two to three hours to get to our Sunbury store, which is crazy,” she said.
The Crumble Corner, 4/1-3 Frederick St, Sunbury, and Grazeland, 20 Booker St, Spotswood
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