New restaurant openings Melbourne September 2024
Getting a seat at Melbourne’s most in-demand restaurant is like winning the lotto— but from next week, fans can get a taste of the Korean powerhouse’s cooking without the queues or price tag.
Food
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Getting a booking at Melbourne’s most in-demand, and smallest, fine diner Chae is almost as hard as winning the lottery.
But later this month, fans can get a taste of the Korean powerhouse’s cooking for as little as $22— no wait list required.
Jung Eun Chae has teamed up with Prahran Market’s Maker and Monger to release a limited edition cheese toastie for its Friends of Fromage chef series every weekend in September.
On September 28 and 29, Chae will sell ‘The Chae’; a Korean riff on the Vegemite cheese toastie, made using doenjang (fermented soybean paste) layered with cashew butter, sesame oil fermented fruit, cheddar and Comte cheese.
She’ll start slinging toasties from 8.30am until 4pm (or sold out) with only 50 made each day of the weekend.
Chae became a household name in Melbourne food circles after opening her intimate six-seater fine diner from her Brunswick apartment in 2021.
Booming in popularity, it became impossible to snare a booking— with the waitlist blowing out to 6000 people at one stage.
Chae and her husband Yoora Yoon later moved to a larger property in Cockatoo.
While the restaurant still only seats six diners at once, they’ve installed a lottery system to help manage the influx of monthly bookings.
Maker and Monger, Prahran Market, Stall 98/163 Commercial Rd, South Yarra.
East Brunswick Village foodies keep it in the family
It’s a family affair at this hipster north food hub.
Not only are three of East Brunswick Village’s foodie shops run by siblings, they all live next door to each other on Village Ave.
Hagen’s Organics’ Oliver and Ruby Hagen have run the organic butcher for more than a decade, growing from two to seven stores in that time.
Next month they’ll launch their eighth, and largest to date, at East Brunswick Village.
Brothers Guy and Ben David, of David Bros Grocer, are also opening a new greengrocer at the shopping hub next month, while wine lovers and Blackhearts and Sparrows sibling founders Paul and Jessica Ghaie opened in April.
“There must be something about this building and siblings,” Jess joked.
And while they’re not part of Melbourne’s growing food scene, doctors Kyle and Shae Wilcox, behind Inner North Medical Clinic, are also brothers – and their mum is the practice manager.
Paul said there was a secret to doing business with a relative.
“We’ve split our roles, come together when we need to ... we divide and conquer, so we rarely butt heads,” he said.
“We’ve been doing it for 21 years, so we’ve worked out all the hacks.”
For Oliver and Ruby, growing up in the family business gave them years of prep.
“Dad started it in 1999, and I started working at (the Queen Vic Market) shop at 14. Dad passed away 11 years ago, and I took over and my sister joined the business,” Oliver said.
Hagen’s Organics’ newest location will be unlike their other stores, with a grab-and-go offering and takeaway window serving rotisserie chickens, hot dogs, pork rolls and hot chips.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, we want to make the organic (meat) aspect more accessible for everyone,” he said.
“We won’t be using any seed oils or canola or anything like that. We want to provide quality ingredients made from good.”
Hagen’s will also sell milkshakes, house sodas and salads at its new shop.
Hagen’s Organic East Brunswick Village opens October 2. David Bros Grocer opens early October.
Take a trip to Sweden via this charming Port Melbourne cafe
Christine and Chris Wong’s new Port Melbourne cafe is a love letter to Scandinavia with an Aussie touch.
“We have this deli snack called skagenrora, which is a Swedish shrimp salad. So we’ve made a take on the lobster roll using prawns, herbed cream and soft buns,” Christine said.
Lilijana Eatery, which opened last month, is a passion project for the former chef and industrial designer who quit their day jobs during Covid to take a chance at their cafe dream.
First came a food truck, then a catering business which still operates today (Porcupine Eatery) and after saving enough capital, the duo settled on a shiny Bay Street shop.
Chris, a former 400 Gradi chef, plays with Nordic flavours in the kitchen, but the cultural identity of the cafe isn’t as straightforward.
“I grew up in Australia, my nonna is from Slovenia and I have an Italian background. My husband is Cantonese and played professional ice-hockey in Sweden and Finland,” Christine said.
“He played on-and-off for eight years, and we just cooked and trained during that time.”
Lilijana Eatery is open from 8am Tuesday to Sunday, selling everything from cinnamon and cardamom pastries, “sun buns” or custard-filled buns, platters piled high with cured fish or smoked meats and pickled veg, and a spread of open sandwiches made with daily-baked sourdough bread.
“We also pickle, cure and bake everything in-house,” she said.
“The response so far has been pretty good.
“It’s been surprising as I wasn’t sure how large the Nordic community was in Melbourne.”
Lilijana is named after Christine’s late nonna. After fleeing the war-torn country, she moved to Australia and learned Italian to communicate with her Nonno who she met on the ‘love boat’ en route to Australia.
She worked at Melbourne establishments San Remo Ballroom and Slavonija Deli at the Preston Market.
You can also buy grab-and-go Eastern European snacks and groceries from the cafe including tinned sardines, chillies, and house made cordials.
Lilijana Eatery, 169 Bay Street, Port Melbourne, lilijanaeatery.com.au
Young chefs take the world in elite cooking comp
Kogwoussougo Ouedraogo was six-years-old when she learnt to cook — and hated it.
“African girls learn cooking very early on and I was six. It felt like an obligation,” she said.
But after watching a cooking show on TV, she developed a taste for the craft.
“I saw a cooking competition on TV, and said to my mum: ‘What is that? Are they cooking? I need to become a chef’,” she said.
Now 26, Ouedraogo has travelled the globe to hone her skills, moving from Africa to study classic techniques in France at 15, before working in kitchens across Italy, Spain, Hong Kong and Ireland.
Six months ago she moved Down Under to work at Melbourne River Cruises, and has since been nominated as a Victorian finalist in the esteemed S.Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year Academy Competition.
She’ll join Dylan Smith, of Scott Pickett Events, and Omnia Bar and Bistro’s Kyongho Choi vying for the title and a spot to compete in the Grand Finale in Milan next year.
A total of ten young Aussie chefs were selected as finalists.
As part of the competition, each chef is required to cook a dish that showcases their lives.
Ouedraogo’s dish, “Harmony of Vegetables in Texture”, is an ode to her African roots.
“I chose a vegetarian plate as meat or fish is so difficult to find (in Africa), but not so much dry goods and vegetables,” he said.
“My plate includes onion, taro and beetroot — two African vegetables — as well as dried mushrooms and a sake vinegar sauce. My grandma taught me this recipe but I used lots of French technique.”
The dishes are judged on technical skill, creativity, and personal belief, as well as the candidates’ potential to create positive change in society through food.
The national winner will be announced on October 9, and will go on to compete in the Grand Finale in Milan next year.
Australia’s top chefs are part of this year’s assessment jury and include fellow S.Pellegrino Young Chef alumni Jake Kellie (Arkhe, Adelaide), Josh Niland (Saint Peter), Brent Savage (Bentley Restaurant Group), Rosheen Kaul (former Etta) and Brigitte Hafner (Tedesca Osteria).
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