Star chef Michael Lambie opens new Southeast Asian restaurant Juni Melbourne

A decade after “taking a risk” to open buzzy Southeast Asian favourite Lucy Liu, star chef Michael Lambie is days away from launching his new city restaurant. Here’s what to expect.

Melbourne chef Michael Lambie is opening his first CBD restaurant since Lucy Liu next week called Juni, with head chef Hendri Budiman. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

If you’ve never heard of chef Michael Lambie, you only need to clock his CV to understand his Melbourne restaurant legacy.

The UK-born, Michelin-trained chef put several big-name eateries on the map, such as Stokehouse, Circa at The Prince, The Smith, Taxi Dining, Lamaro’s and Lucy Liu.

Now after a three-year hiatus, Lambie is back in the city with an exciting new project he’s named after his late mother, Juni.

“I’m nervous,” he told the Herald Sun.

“Even when I opened Lucy Liu and was taking a risk, I never thought it would never work.”

“I was fearless. Maybe I’m a bit more mature now and understand the ramifications.”

Crispy fried eggplant. Picture: Dylan Kindermann

In his new chapter, the 120-seater will live on Exhibition St inside a thriving CBD pocket already home to Chris Lucas’s Maison Batard and Andrew McConnell’s upcoming project at the old Becco site.

“You have to keep evolving (as a chef) and I have a phrase I learned from Marco Pierre White: You can’t reinvent the wheel, but you can put new tyres on it. And that’s always stuck with me,” he said.

At Juni, Lambie flexes his Southeast Asian kitchen skills with a casual interpretation of authentic flavours.

“From my experience, there are a lot of Asian restaurants (in Melbourne) that cook for the general public, either making everything hot or sweet. I want Juni to be authentic with spice,” he said.

Expect flavours from China, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. Picture: Dylan Kindermann

Hendri Budiman (ex-Coda) has been installed as head chef, working alongside Lambie to build a menu which spans across China, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.

There’ll be a raw bar, peddling a tuna ... tataki dish that’s been pan-seared, chilled right down, sliced and served in pickled radishes with a ginger and wasabi dressing.

He’ll also reincarnate the Chinese, peking-style roast duck that’s dry-aged and served with daikon kimchi and a spicy hoisin sauce he first developed at Taxi Dining Room.

And a steamed barramundi dish, resting on a bed of black bean salsa and baby ginger leeks, is also in development.

“The raw section is predominantly Japanese, and the hot entrees mixed bag of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese, then mains we have a few Malaysian curries,” he said.

“(The food) is a mixed bag because I think that was my concept for Melbourne — it’s a melting pot of Asian cultures and Iwanted to create a restaurant that has a mishmash of this, but specific Asian flavours that are precise and authentic.”

Juni, 136 Exhibition St, Melbourne. Opening November 28.